In the course of history, many football clubs have competed in the league and/or cup structure of more than one country, whether due to annexation or occupation (including colonial rule), or because their country split or unified (or both). Some countries, in particular Poland, have had their borders moved by hundreds of kilometres in the twentieth century, with obvious consequences for the clubs in the areas involved. In addition, some clubs have opted to play across the border, in particular in the United Kingdom where the football associations do not actually correspond to independent states, but also elsewhere.
This file aims to highlight various aspects of such performances abroad, organised according to the aforementioned four types of moving across borders (or borders being moved):
1. Annexations and Occupations
2. Country Splits and Unifications
3. Moving Countries
4. Roving Clubs
Note that these four categories are not entirely disjoint; in particular the distinction between the first two may be contentious in some cases (e.g. the Baltic countries, which for practical reasons are discussed together with all other Soviet republics in the second category); likewise between the first and the third, and one may debate the voluntarity of Derry City's choice to play in the Republic of Ireland rather than the section of the island that did not separate from the United Kingdom. The last category also includes a short section on currently Greek clubs that were founded in current Turkey; in this case it was not the borders moving but the clubs (or rather the Greek community on which they were based).
At the end of this introduction, two alternative indexes are given, one by 'host' country and one by 'guest' country.
The focus is on teams doing well across
the border (winning leagues or cups, or reaching far in either)
but examples of less successful clubs are given as well where
it seemed justified (and the relevant information was available).
Therefore, treatment of e.g. constituent republics
of the former Soviet Union or Yugoslavia is not 'equal'; dominant
regions (Russia and the Ukraine for the Soviet Union, Serbia and Croatia
for Yugoslavia) obtain a less detailed presentation than the other regions.
An overview of
European clubs winning championships in two different
countries (according to customary definitions in world football)
is given at the end.
In the results overviews throughout the document (the parts in
pre-formatted text), 'foreign' winners of a competition
(whether championship or cup) are given in bold face,
runners-up in italics (with one exception from this convention,
in the section on overseas clubs in the French cup).
In addition, the text sections have a number of clubs shown in
bold face to stress their performances, according to the
discretion of the author. The text sections also have non-English
words shown in italics, as customary in English language texts.
Given the topic, some political background here and there is unavoidable; no offence is meant to any of the countries or ethnic groups involved though the subjective point of view of the author may shine through at one or two places.
In all section and subsection headings, we refer to current and past names of countries (or regions which de facto (if not de iure) have or had independent football competitions, e.g. Northern Cyprus and Kosovo); this does of course not necessarily mean that the entire country or region was part of the football structure of another one but (apart from cases under the fourth category of 'roving clubs') at least some part nowadays within its borders. More precise information is given in the text. Also note the use of contemporary notions may be anachronistic in texts discussing historical situations.
Inclusion or non-inclusion of various cases may be debatable. For instance, the one-season (1999/00) appearance of Gozo FC in the Maltese top division is not included, although the island of Gozo has its own FA and an independent league structure (in which Gozo FC never played), as the fact that Gozo is an integral part of Malta has not been in doubt since 1800 (and football came to the islands much later), and its FA has never entertained any thought of independent membership of FIFA or UEFA (and would stand no chance of obtaining it). Likewise, there is no separate mention of e.g. the performances of the Canary Islands clubs Las Palmas and Tenerife in the Spanish football structure, nor of the Ceuta and Melilla sides (as these clubs have never played outside of Spain), but the single season of Atlético Tetuán in the Primera División is mentioned as the town is now in Morocco.
Additional information and factual corrections (whether on football, geography or history) are very much welcomed by the author; political comments will be ignored.
NB: 'guest' countries in alphabetical order between brackets.
Albania (Kosovo)
Armenia (Azerbaijan)
Australia (New Zealand)
Austria (Czech Republic | Hungary | Liechtenstein | Poland | Ukraine)
Bulgaria (Greece | Macedonia)
Chile (Palestine)
China (Hongkong |
Malaysia |
Philippines |
Thailand |
Tibet)
Comoros (Mayotte)
Croatia (Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbia)
(All) Cyprus (Northern Cyprus)
Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic (1918-1938) |
Czech Republic (1944-1993) |
Slovakia (1918-1938) |
Slovakia (1944-1993) |
Ukraine)
Egypt (Palestine)
England (Northern Ireland |
Scotland |
Wales)
Ethiopia (Eritrea)
Finland (Russia (type 3) | Russia (type 4))
France (Algeria |
French Guyana |
Guadeloupe |
Martinique |
Mayotte |
Monaco |
Morocco |
New Caledonia |
Reunion |
Saar |
Tahiti (French Polynesia) |
Tunisia)
Georgia (Abkhazia | South Ossetia)
Germany (Austria (type 1) | Austria (type 4) |
Belgium |
Czech Republic (type 1) | Czech Republic (type 4) |
Denmark |
East Germany |
France (type 1) | France (type 3) |
Lithuania |
Luxembourg |
Poland (type 1) | Poland (type 3) |
Russia |
Saar |
Ukraine)
Greece (Cyprus)
Guyana (Antigua |
Barbados |
Saint Lucia |
Trinidad and Tobago |
USA)
Hongkong (China)
Hungary (Austria |
Romania (type 1) |
Romania (type 3) |
Serbia (type 1) |
Serbia (type 3) |
Slovakia (type 1) |
Slovakia (type 3) |
Slovenia |
Ukraine (type 1)) |
Ukraine (type 3))
India (Goa | Sikkim)
Indonesia (East Timor | Western New Guinea)
(All) Ireland (England | (Republic of) Ireland | Scotland)
(Republic of) Ireland (Northern Ireland)
Israel (Palestine)
Italy (Croatia |
San Marino |
Slovenia |
Switzerland |
Trieste)
Japan (Russia | South Korea)
Jordan (Palestine)
Korea (North Korea | South Korea)
Latvia (Estonia)
Lithuania (Russia)
Malaysia (Brunei | Singapore)
Maldives (India |
Sri Lanka |
Thailand)
Morocco (Ifni | Western Sahara)
Netherlands (Germany)
Netherlands Antilles (Aruba | Bonaire)
Pakistan (Bangladesh)
Philippines (Singapore)
Poland (Belarus |
Hungary |
Lithuania |
Ukraine)
Portugal (Angola |
Cape Verde | Guinea Bissau | Mozambique)
Reunion (Mayotte)
Romania (Bulgaria |
Moldova | Ukraine)
Russia (Poland | Ukraine)
Scotland (England)
Serbia and Montenegro (Montenegro | Serbia)
Singapore (Australia |
Brunei |
Cambodia |
'foreign teams' ('Africa', China, Japan, South Korea) |
Indonesia |
Malaysia |
Thailand)
South Africa (Bophuthatswana | Ciskei | Namibia | Transkei | Venda)
Soviet Union (Armenia |
Azerbaijan |
Belarus |
Estonia |
Georgia |
Kazakhstan |
Kyrgyzstan |
Latvia |
Lithuania |
Moldova |
Russia |
Tajikistan |
Turkmenistan |
Ukraine |
Uzbekistan)
Spain (Andorra | Morocco)
Surinam (French Guyana)
Sweden (Finland)
Switzerland (Germany | Liechtenstein)
Syria (Egypt)
Tanzania (Zanzibar)
Thailand (Laos)
Turkey (Greece)
USA (Bermuda | Canada | Puerto Rico)
Vietnam (North Vietnam | South Vietnam)
Wales (England)
Yemen (North Yemen | South Yemen)
Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Croatia |
Italy (Trieste) |
Kosovo |
Macedonia |
Montenegro |
Serbia |
Slovenia)
NB: 'host' countries in alphabetical order between brackets.
Abkhazia (Georgia)
'Africa' (Singapore)
Algeria (France)
Andorra (Spain)
Angola (Portugal)
Antigua (Guyana)
Armenia (Soviet Union)
Aruba (Netherlands Antilles)
Australia (Singapore)
Austria (Germany (type 1) | Germany (type 4) | Hungary)
Azerbaijan (Armenia | Soviet Union)
Bangladesh (Pakistan)
Barbados (Guyana)
Belarus (Poland | Soviet Union)
Belgium (Germany)
Bermuda (USA)
Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles)
Bophuthatswana (South Africa)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croatia | Yugoslavia)
Brunei (Malaysia | Singapore)
Bulgaria (Romania)
Cambodia (Singapore)
Canada (USA)
Cape Verde (Portugal)
China (Hongkong | Singapore)
Ciskei (South Africa)
Croatia (Italy | Yugoslavia)
Cyprus (Greece)
Czech Republic (Austria | Czechoslovakia (1918-1938) | Czechoslovakia (1944-1993) | Germany (type 1) | Germany (type 4))
Denmark (Germany)
East Germany (Germany)
East Timor (Indonesia)
Egypt (Syria)
England ((All) Ireland | Scotland | Wales)
Eritrea (Ethiopia)
Estonia (Latvia | Soviet Union)
Finland (Sweden)
France (Germany (type 1) | Germany (type 3))
French Guyana (France | Surinam)
Georgia (Soviet Union)
Germany (Netherlands | Switzerland)
Goa (India)
Greece (Bulgaria | Turkey)
Guadeloupe (France)
Guinea Bissau (Portugal)
Hongkong (China)
Hungary (Austria | Poland)
Ifni (Morocco)
India (Maldives)
Indonesia (Singapore)
(Republic of) Ireland ((All) Ireland)
Italy (Yugoslavia)
Japan (Singapore)
Kazakhstan (Soviet Union)
Kosovo (Albania | Yugoslavia)
Kyrgyzstan (Soviet Union)
Laos (Thailand)
Latvia (Soviet Union)
Liechtenstein (Austria | Switzerland)
Lithuania (Germany | Poland | Soviet Union)
Luxembourg (Germany)
Macedonia (Bulgaria | Yugoslavia)
Malaysia (China | Singapore)
Martinique (France)
Mayotte (Comoros | France | Reunion)
Moldova (Romania | Soviet Union)
Monaco (France)
Montenegro (Serbia and Montenegro | Yugoslavia)
Morocco (France | Spain)
Mozambique (Portugal)
Namibia (South Africa)
New Caledonia (France)
New Zealand (Australia)
Northern Cyprus ((All) Cyprus)
Northern Ireland (England | (Republic of) Ireland)
North Korea (Korea)
North Vietnam (Vietnam)
North Yemen (Yemen)
Palestine (Chile | Egypt | Israel | Jordan)
Philippines (China)
Poland (Austria | Germany (type 1) | Germany (type 3) | Russia)
Puerto Rico (USA)
Reunion (France)
Romania (Hungary (type 1) | Hungary (type 3))
Russia (Finland (type 3) | Finland (type 4) | Germany | Japan | Lithuania | Soviet Union)
Saar (France | Germany)
Saint Lucia (Guyana)
San Marino (Italy)
Scotland (England | (All) Ireland)
Serbia (Croatia | Hungary (type 1) | Hungary (type 3) | Serbia and Montenegro | Yugoslavia)
Sikkim (India)
Singapore (Malaysia | Philippines)
Slovakia (Czechoslovakia (1918-1938) | Czechoslovakia (1944-1993) | Hungary (type 1) | Hungary (type 3))
Slovenia (Hungary | Italy | Yugoslavia)
South Korea (Japan | Korea | Singapore)
South Ossetia (Georgia)
South Vietnam (Vietnam)
South Yemen (Yemen)
Sri Lanka (Maldives)
Switzerland (Italy)
Tahiti (French Polynesia) (France)
Tajikistan (Soviet Union)
Thailand (China | Maldives | Singapore)
Tibet (China)
Transkei (South Africa)
Trieste (Italy | Yugoslavia)
Trinidad and Tobago (Guyana)
Tunisia (France)
Turkmenistan (Soviet Union)
Ukraine (Austria | Czechoslovakia | Germany | Hungary (type 1) | Hungary (type 3) | Poland | Romania | Russia | Soviet Union)
USA (Guyana)
Uzbekistan (Soviet Union)
Venda (South Africa)
Wales (England)
Western New Guinea (Indonesia)
Western Sahara (Morocco)
Zanzibar (Tanzania)
There also is a short discussion of some special cases in Africa (including brief mentions of Biafra, British Cameroon, Ruanda-Urundi and Somaliland), mostly dating back to colonial times:
French Northern Africa | French Western Africa | North and South Rhodesia, Nyasaland | Stanley Pool
Germany | Hungary | Bulgaria | Croatia | Croatia | Japan | South Africa | Morocco | Ethiopia | China | India | Indonesia | Israel | Jordan | Egypt | France | Portugal | Spain | Russia
Just before and during World War II, several countries, in particular Germany and Hungary, increased their territory dramatically, forcing clubs from other countries to enter their competitions. Some of these enjoyed great success - in particular Rapid Wien and Nagyváradi AC (known in Romanian as CA Oradea) who won league titles in the invading country. Also, Korean clubs were successful in Japan just before the second World War. Apart from shortlived war-time occupations, this section also includes various cases of annexations lasting for decades and a few colonial curiosities. Note that the extension of the Soviet Union by the three Baltic republics as part of the Hitler-Stalin pact is discussed under the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the special case of Karelia under border moves.
Austria | Belgium | Czech Republic | France | Luxembourg | Poland | Ukraine
Starting with the 1938 Anschluß of Austria, clubs started entering the German championship and cup competitions from countries that had organised their own before. The other countries involved were the Czech Republic (first the Sudetenland, later also 'German' clubs (and army or air force selections) from the Protektorat Böhmen and Mähren, which also had its own league for the 'Czech' clubs), France (the Alsace and Lorraine regions, which had been German prior to World War I), Luxembourg and parts of Poland (including the area around Lwów which is now in the Ukraine; note that the regions which were part of the German Reich during the interbellum are discussed under 'moving borders').
After the 1938 Anschluß, the Austrian league was incorporated as Gauliga 17 (Ostmark) in the German football structure, which culminated in an annual, national championship playoff between the champions from the Gauligen. Only once did the Austrian representatives fail to reach the semifinals of the German championship, and even then (1944) the Austrian team lost to the eventual winners by the odd goal in five in the quarterfinals. Rapid won both the German championship and cup once, Vienna won one cup and reached the championship final, which Admira also managed once (suffering a record final defeat in the process).
Championship (Deutsche Meisterschaft)
1939: finalists: Admira Wien (0-9 vs Schalke 04)
1940: semifinal: Rapid Wien (1-2 aet vs Dresdner SC; Rapid
won playoff for 3rd place vs
Waldhof Mannheim (4-4 aet, 5-2))
1941: winners: Rapid Wien (4-3 vs Schalke 04)
1942: finalists: Vienna (0-2 vs Schalke 04)
1943: semifinal: Vienna (1-2 vs FV Saarbrücken; Vienna
lost playoff for 3rd place vs
Holstein Kiel (1-4))
1944: quarterf.: Vienna (2-3 vs Dresdner SC)
Cup (von-Tschammer-Pokal)
1938: winners: Rapid Wien (3-1 vs FSV Frankfurt)
semifinal: Wiener Sport-Club (2-3 vs FSV Frankfurt)
quarterf.: Vienna (1-3 vs 1.FC Nürnberg)
Grazer SC (1-6 vs Wiener Sport-Club)
1/8 final: Admira Wien (0-6 vs Vienna)
Austro-Fiat Wien (1-5 vs Rapid Wien)
Austria Wien (2-3 vs Grazer SC)
Wacker Wien (0-1 vs Wiener Sport-Club)
NB: the German and Austrian teams had played separately until the
quarterfinals, for which 4 teams from both areas qualified.
1939: semifinal: Rapid Wien (0-1 vs 1.FC Nürnberg)
Wacker Wien (1-1 aet, 2-2 aet, 0-0 aet, lost on
draw vs Waldhof Mannheim)
1940: semifinal: Rapid Wien (0-3 vs Dresdner SC)
quarterf.: Wiener Sport-Club (1-2 vs Fortuna Düsseldorf)
1/8 final: Wacker Wien (1-5 vs Wiener Sport-Club)
1941: semifinal: Admira Wien (2-4 vs Dresdner SC)
quarterf.: Austria Wien (1-4 vs Schalke 04)
1/16 fin.: Rapid Wien (3-5 vs Admira Wien)
1942: 1/16 fin.: Vienna (0-4 vs NSTG Falkenau)
1943: winners: Vienna (3-2 vs LSV Groß Hamburg)
The eastern Belgian region around Eupen and Malmedy (where German is spoken) was annexed by Germany during the second World War. Nothing is known about participations by the existing local clubs (such as FC Eupen, founded 1920, and La Jeunesse d'Eupen, founded 1919 as Verein für Jugend und Volksspiele Eupen as a merger between two older clubs (FC Fortuna Eupen and Eupener Ballspielverein, both founded 1908) and renamed to the French version of their name in 1920) in the German league structure during the war.
Championship No data available. Cup No data available.
The Sudetenland was incorporated in the German Reich on Sep 29, 1938. From the 1940/41 season on, also clubs from the Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren, roughly corresponding to the remainder (apart from the Sudetenland) of the current Czech Republic, entered the German league structure. Note that nearly all clubs listed below were either army (Militär SV) or air force (LSV = Luftwaffen Sportverein) teams or artificial sports units (NSTG = Nationalsozialistische Turngemeinde) enforced by the nazis; only Warnsdorfer FK existed as a club prior to the German takeover (they were forcibly merged into NSTG Warnsdorf in 1939/40 and relegated from the top level of the Sportbereich 18 Sudetenland as reigning champions).
Note that DFC Prag played in the German championship 1902/03.
City name correspondences:
German Czech
Brünn Brno
Brüx Most
Falkenau Sokolov
Graslitz Kraslice
Olmütz Olomouc
Prag Praha
Warnsdorf Varnsdorf
Witkowitz Vítkovice
Championship (Deutsche Meisterschaft)
The following clubs from the current Czech Republic played in the
Endrunde of the German championship.
1939: group st.: Warnsdorfer FK (4 0 0 4 5-16 0)
1940: group st.: NSTG Graslitz (4 0 1 3 7-22 1)
1941: group st.: NSTG Prag (4 0 1 3 3- 8 1)
1942: qual. rd.: LSV Olmütz (0-1 vs Vienna)
1943: prel. rd.: Militär SV Brünn (2-5 vs Vienna)
1944: qual. rd.: Militär SV Brünn (3-6 vs Vienna)
qual. rd.: NSTG Brüx (0-8 vs 1.FC Nürnberg)
Cup (von-Tschammer-Pokal)
1940: 1/16 fin.: NSTG Witkowitz (1-9 vs Wiener Sport-Club)
1942: 1/8 final: NSTG Falkenau (1-4 vs Blau-Weiß Berlin)
1943: 1/8 final: Militär SV Brünn (1-5 vs 1.FC Nürnberg)
1/16 fin.: NSTG Brüx (0-14 vs Vienna)
During the war, Germany occupied the French regions Elsaß (Alsace) and Lothringen (Lorraine), which were under dispute between the two countries (or rather cultural entities, as Germany as a state is a more recent invention) for centuries (clubs from the areas played in (southern) Germany prior to the first World War). Alsatian clubs obtained their own Gauliga, while those from Lorraine (FV Metz, TSG Saargemünd and TSG Merlenbach) were included in the Westmark with teams from the Saar and Rheinland-Pfalz. FV Metz were runners-up in the Westmark each of the three seasons they played (1941/42, 1942/43 and 1943/44) but never qualified for the Endrunde. All clubs involved played before in the French league structure, though of course under different names, e.g. FV Metz as FC Metz, FC Mülhausen 93 as FC Mulhouse and SG SS Straßburg as SC Red Star de Strasbourg (not to be confused with their better known town rivals RC Strasbourg, who were known as Rasen SC Straßburg during German occupation).
City name correspondences:
German French
Merlenbach Merlebach
Metz Metz
Mülhausen Mulhouse
Saargemünd Sarreguemines
Straßburg Strasbourg
Championship (Deutsche Meisterschaft)
The following clubs from current France played in the Endrunde of
the German championship.
1941: group st.: FC Mülhausen 93 (6 0 1 5 9-28 1)
1942: quarterf.: SG SS Straßburg (0-6 vs Schalke 04)
1943: prel. rd.: FC Mülhausen 93 (1-5 vs FV Saarbrücken)
1944: 1/8 final: FC Mülhausen 93 (3-5 vs KSV FV/Altenkessel Saarbrücken)
NB: FV Saarbrücken was the contemporary name of current 1.FC Saarbrücken;
they entered into a 'war-time union' with Altenkessel in 1943/44.
Cup (von-Tschammer-Pokal)
1941: 1/8 final: FV Metz (0-3 vs 1.SV Jena)
1/16 fin.: FC Mülhausen 93 (0-4 vs Stuttgarter Kickers)
1942: 1/8 final: SG SS Straßburg (1-15 vs 1860 München)
1/16 fin.: FC Mülhausen 93 (0-2 vs VfB Stuttgart)
1943: 1/16 fin.: FC Mülhausen 93 (1-4 vs VfR Mannheim)
Football clubs from Luxembourg were incorporated in the Bezirksklasse
Gruppe West within the Sportbereich Moselland. In the first
season teams from the Grand Duchy entered, 1941/42, FV Stadt Düdelingen
won this league and then triumphed in a playoff against the winners of
the Bezirksklasse Gruppe Ost (Eintracht Kreuznach), earning
entry to the qualifying round of the German
championship. One year later, in 1942/43, FK Niederkorn won the same
group but lost the final of the Moselland championship 4-5 on aggregate
against TuS Neuendorf (after winning the first leg 3-0). In 1943/44,
Schwarz-Weiß Esch were the winners of the western group and played the
Moselland final, but after winning 4-1 at home they were destroyed 0-8
by TuS Neuendorf in the second leg in Koblenz.
So FV Stadt Düdelingen are the only club from current
Luxembourg to have played in the Endrunde of the German
championship; they also reached the cup quarterfinals once during
the war.
All clubs involved played before in the Luxembourg league structure, though of course under different names, e.g. FV Stadt Düdelingen as Stade Dudelange, Schwarz-Weiß Esch as Jeunesse d'Esch and FK Niederkorn as Progrès Niedercorn. Other renamed Luxembourg clubs to play at the highest German league level during this time were Moselland Luxemburg (Spora Luxembourg), SV Düdelingen (US Dudelange) and Schwarz-Weiß Wasserbillig (Jeunesse Wasserbillig, who did not reach the highest level in their home country until 1958 but played in the 1943/44 Bezirksklasse Gruppe West of the Sportbereich Moselland).
City name correspondences: German French Luxembourgish Düdelingen Dudelange Diddeléng Esch Esch Esch Luxemburg Luxembourg Lëtzebuerg Niederkorn Niedercorn Nidderkuer Wasserbillig Wasserbillig Waasserbëlleg Championship (Deutsche Meisterschaft) 1942: qual. rd.: FV Stadt Düdelingen (0-2 vs Schalke 04) Cup (von-Tschammer-Pokal) 1942: quarterf.: FV Stadt Düdelingen (0-7 vs 1860 München) 1943: 1/16 fin.: FK Niederkorn (0-3 vs Spfr. Katernberg)
This section only refers to the areas of (current) Poland which were not
part of the German Reich prior to World War II; a great part of
current Poland, in particularly on the northern coast (Pommern)
and the southwestern mining area (Schlesien)
was part of Germany long before World War II
(and Poland stretched far further east - see the section on
Moving Countries).
Likewise, clubs from Westpreußen (e.g. from Elbing/Elbląg), the
Freistaat Danzig (an autonomous entity consisting of the harbour
city Danzig/Gdańsk with its suburbs such as Neufahrwasser/Nowy Port)
and Ostpreußen (with as major city Königsberg/Kaliningrad, nowadays
part of Russia) entered the German football championship as a matter of
course since the beginning of the twentieth century.
The relevant areas were incorporated as Warthegau (with as main
cities Posen (which had belonged to Germany before the first World War
but had fallen to Poland afterwards) and Litzmannstadt) and Generalgouvernement (with
as main cities Warschau, Krakau, Lemberg (currently Lviv in the
Ukraine), Radom and Lublin).
Note that like in the Czech case, most clubs listed below were either army or air force units or German police teams (OrPo = Ordnungspolizei); DWM denoted Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken.
City name correspondences:
German Polish
Krakau Kraków
Litzmannstadt Łódź
Posen Poznań
Warschau Warszawa
Championship (Deutsche Meisterschaft)
1941: qual. rd.: LSV Posen (2-2 vs Preußen Danzig, lost on draw)
1942: prel. rd.: OrPo Litzmannstadt (1-8 vs VfB Königsberg)
qual. rd.: LSV Boelecke Krakau (2-5 vs Planitzer SC)
1943: 1/8 final: OrPo Warschau (1-5 vs VfB Königsberg)
prel. rd.: BSG DWM Posen (1-3 vs OrPo Warschau)
1944: qual. rd.: LSV Mölders Krakau (1-4 vs VfB Königsberg)
qual. rd.: BSG DWM Posen (0-7 vs STC Hirschberg)
Cup (von-Tschammer-Pokal)
1943: 1/16 fin.: Praga Warschau (3-5 vs Militär SV Brünn)
1/16 fin.: BSG DWM Posen (0-4 vs VfB Königsberg)
During World War II, the region around L'viv (Lemberg, Lwów), which had been Polish during the interbellum but became part of the Soviet Union after the war, was incorporated in the Generalgouvernement. Next to nothing is known about the regional championship of Galizien played between German army teams; in the 1942/43 season, Ostbahn SG Lemberg were leading the league around Christmas with 7 points from 4 matches, ahead of DTSG Lemberg and W.H.-Nachrichten (both 4 points from 3 matches). Independently of that, a West Ukrainian championship was apparently played on 3 occasions, with as champions Ukraina (Lviv) in 1942, Skala (Stryj) in 1943 and Vatra (Drohobych) in 1944.
Romania | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Ukraine
During the second World War, Hungary annexed a number of regions which had belonged to Hungary (as part of the Habsburg Empire) prior to the first World War.
The first team from outside the current borders of Hungary to enter the Hungarian first division was Kassai AC (from Košice/Kassa in Slovakia). Afterwards, various clubs from areas now in Romania or Serbia entered; these areas had large Hungarian minorities and most of the clubs involved presumably had a sizable quantity of ethnically Hungarian players. Most successful were the clubs from Transylvania: Nagyváradi AC (from Oradea/Nagyvárad, close to the Hungarian border) won the Hungarian championship 1943/44 (as the first team from outside Budapest to do so), 13 points clear of Ferencváros and Kolozsvári AC (from Cluj/Kolozsvár), who reached the cup final in the same season. Below all 'foreign' clubs to play in the first Hungarian league division are listed.
Nagyváradi AC (from Oradea/Nagyvárad, close to the
Hungarian border) won the Hungarian championship 1943/44 (as the
first team from outside Budapest to do so), 13 points clear of
Ferencváros and Kolozsvári AC (from Cluj/Kolozsvár), who
reached the cup final in the same season. Both clubs had been
promoted in 1940/41, Kolozsvári AC as winners of the
Erdély (Transylvania) group of the Hungarian second division,
and Nagyváradi AC as its champions - NAC had not entered the second
division but was recognised as the strongest club from
Erdély.
In addition, we mention that Nagybánya were runners-up in the
eastern group of the second division 1943/44, missing out on
promotion against Szentlőrinci AC.
City name correspondences:
Hungarian Romanian
Kolozsvár Cluj (Cluj-Napoca)
Nagybánya Baia Mare
Nagyvárad Oradea
Championship (1st division)
1941/42 5.Nagyváradi AC 30 14 8 8 81-52 36
13.Kolozsvári AC 30 8 6 16 51-78 22
1942/43 2.Nagyváradi AC 30 19 4 7 85-49 42
10.Kolozsvári AC 30 11 4 15 60-70 26
1943/44 1.Nagyváradi AC 30 24 1 5 78-36 49
3.Kolozsvári AC 30 15 6 9 54-45 36
1944/45 2.Nagyváradi AC 3 2 1 0 6- 3 5
6.Kolozsvári AC 3 1 2 0 5- 3 4
NB: the 1944/45 season was abandoned after a few rounds and replaced
by an (unofficial) Budapest competition in the fall of 1944.
Cup
1944: finalists: Kolozsvári AC (2-2, 1-3 vs Ferencváros)
Nagyváradi AC (Nagyváradi Atlétikai Club) were founded
in 1910. After Transylvania came to Romania (from the
Hungarian part of the Habsburg Empire) after the first
World War, they were renamed as CA Oradea (Clubul Atletic Oradea).
Prior to World War II, the club played at the Romanian top level for
six seasons (1932/33 to 1937/38), finishing runners-up in 1934/35.
During the last two seasons before World War II, they were at the
second level. After the war, the club was renamed Libertatea and
joined the top flight in the 1946/47 season (the first official
championship in Romania after the war); in 1948 the club was
renamed IC Oradea, and as such won the Romanian championship 1948/49,
making them one of the few clubs to have won league titles in
two currently existing countries.
Kolozsvári AC (Kolozsvári Atlétikai Club) played as CA Cluj (Clubul Atletic Cluj) in the Romanian second division 1934/35 and 1935/36. They lost their second level status following the reduction of the division from six to two regional groups, and played at regional level until World War II. After their success within the Hungarian league structure during the war, they were included in the Romanian top flight 1946/47 under the name Ferar Cluj. As such, they finished 6th in 1946/47 and 9th in 1947/48 before merging into CFR Cluj (the local railway team), who had withdrawn from their second level group halfway through the 1947/48 season. The merger club was named CFR Cluj and took Ferar's place in the top flight but the identity of the railway club. This club won a first ever Romanian league championship as CFR Cluj-Napoca in 2007/08.
Note that another club from Cluj, Universitatea Cluj, moved to Sibiu in 1940, following the Vienna Dictate that transferred a sizable portion of Transylvania including Cluj and Oradea to Hungary. Having finished second in one of the four second level groups (behind Crişana Oradea) in 1939/40, the club entered the Romanian first level as Universitatea Sibiu in 1940/41. Under that name they reached the 1941/42 Romanian cup final (which they lost 1-7 to Rapid Bucureşti; they had earlier lost the 1933/34 final to Ripensia Timişoara as Universitatea Cluj and later, after moving back to Cluj in 1945, played two more finals under different names again, losing the 1948/49 final as CSU Cluj to CSCA Bucureşti (later Steaua) and finally winning the trophy in 1964/65 as Ştiinţa Cluj, beating Dinamo Piteşti (later Argeş) in the final).
See also the notes on clubs from the region in the Hungarian football structure during the Habsburg Empire, such as Temesvári Kinizsi, who won regional championships in Hungary during the first World War and then claimed six consecutive national championships (as Chinezul Timişoara) in Romania from 1921/22 to 1926/27 after the region became Romanian.
City name correspondence:
Hungarian Serbian
Újvidek Novi Sad
Championship (1st division)
1941/42 13.Újvideki AC 30 10 5 15 47-86 25
1942/43 11.Újvideki AC 30 10 6 14 52-63 26
1943/44 6.Újvideki AC 30 12 7 11 68-58 31
1944/45 12.Újvidéki AC 2 1 0 1 3- 9 2
NB: the 1944/45 season was abandoned after a few rounds and replaced
by an (unofficial) Budapest competition in the fall of 1944.
Novi Sad lies in the Vojvodina, an autonomous province in Serbia
with a considerable Hungarian population (but also other ethnic
minorities).
Újvideki AC were founded in 1910; its home town Novi Sad/Újvidek
came to Yugoslavia (from the Habsburg empire) in 1918, and the club
were renamed Novisadski AK; as such they reached the semifinals of
the 1935/36 championship (played in knock-out format), which they
lost 0-1 to Slavija Sarajevo. The club was dissolved in 1944.
See also the notes on clubs from the region in the
Hungarian football structure during the
Habsburg Empire.
City name correspondences: Hungarian Slovak German Kassa Košice Kaschau Pozsóny Bratislava Pressburg Championship (1st division) 1939/40 13.Kassai AC 26 5 3 18 29-79 13Kassai AC (Kassai Atlétikai Club) were founded in 1903; in the 1920s they played in the MLSz (Hungarian) championship in Slovakia (there were three separate federations in Slovakia alone, and more in Bohemia and Moravia), reaching the MLSz Slovak championship final in 1927 (lost 2-4 vs Rapid Bratislava) and 1928/29 (lost 1-2 to Ligeti SC, also from Bratislava).
The region of Prekmurje (Muravidék), with as main towns Lendava and Murska Sobota, was occupied by Hungary from 1941 to 1944 (and by Germany during the last year of the war). It appears a club from Lendava, probably identical to or related to current Nafta Lendava, played in a regional Hungarian league also involving clubs from Szombathely, finishing second in their group in 1942. It is not known whether any club from Murska Sobota, whether related to later Slovenian top flight club and 1994/95 cup winners Mura (founded 1924, renamed Mura 05 in 2005) or not, entered the Hungarian football structure. After World War II, the region became part of Yugoslavia.
City name correspondences: Hungarian Slovenian Lendva Lendava Muraszombat Murska Sobota
During the second World War, Hungary also annexed Carpathian
Ruthenia (Transcarpathia, Kárpátalja), which during
the interbellum had belonged to the Slovakian part
of Czechoslovakia, and went to the Soviet Union (more precisely,
the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic)
afterwards. From this region, at least Ungvári AC and Ungvári Rusznyi
(presumably the new name for Rusj Užhorod)
played at the second level of the Hungarian league structure.
Ungvári AC won promotion to the top level in 1943/44, as
winners of the northern group of the second division ahead of
Salgótarjáni SE, but their debut season was abandoned after a
few rounds in the fall of 1944, with UAC in last position after
suffering three losses. The national championship was then
replaced by an (unofficial) Budapest league.
Other clubs from the town have played at the
top level of the Czechoslovak (Rusj
Užhorod) and Ukrainian (Zakarpattya
Uzhhorod) league structures.
Beregszász, a town which like Munkács had clubs playing at the
second level in Czechoslovakia before the second World War, was
represented by one club at the Hungarian second level for one season:
Beregszászi FTC finished 15th from 16 clubs in the
NB. II Felvidéki csoport (a regional second division group)
in 1939/40 and disappeared to the third Hungarian level for the
seasons 1940/41 to 1942/43.
See also the notes on clubs from the region in the
Hungarian football structure during the
Habsburg Empire.
City name correspondences:
Hungarian Ukrainian Slovak Russian
Beregszász Berehowe Berehovo Beregowo
Munkács Mukacheve Mukačevo Mukachyovo
Ungvár Uzhhorod Užhorod Uzhgorod
Championship (1st division)
1944/45 16.Ungvári AC 3 0 0 3 3-13 0
NB: the 1944/45 season was abandoned after a few rounds and replaced
by an (unofficial) Budapest competition in the fall of 1944.
After entering World War II at the side of the axis, Bulgaria occupied parts of northern Greece and southern Yugoslavia. No league championship was organised in Bulgaria during the war, but several clubs from the occupied areas reached the latter stages of the knock-out style national championship or of the Tzar's Cup.
Championship (knock-out style)
1943: 2nd round: Belomorets Kavala (2-1, 0-1, 1-2 vs Botev Plovdiv)
NB: is is unknown whether this club (whose name translates to 'White
Sea', referring to the Aegean) is related to the Kavala clubs
(in particular AEK Kavalas and Filippi Kavalas, which together
with Iraklis Kavala merged into AO Kavalas in 1965) playing in
the northern section of the Greek championship prior to 1940.
All clubs below are from towns in the current state of Macedonia, an area on which Bulgaria have historically laid claims. Note that Macedonia also is the name for a large part of Northern Greece. Makedonija Skopje once reached the championship final and also the semifinal of the Tzar's Cup; they are one of the ancestors of current Vardar Skopje.
Championship (knock-out style)
1942: finalists: Makedonija Skopje (0-2, 0-1 vs Levski Sofia)
1/6 final: Makedonija Bitola (0-1 vs Slavia Sofia)
1/6 final: ŽSK Skopje (0-3 vs ŽSK Sofia)
1/12 fin.: Vardar Skopje (1-4 vs Makedonija Bitola)
1/12 fin.: Goce Delcev Prilep (0-8 vs ŽSK Skopje)
1943: 2nd round: ŽSK Skopje (1-3, 1-2 vs Levski Plovdiv)
1st round: Makedonija Bitola (0-1, 0-2 vs ŽSK Skopje)
Tzar's Cup
1941: semifinal: Makedonija Skopje (0-1 vs Napreduk Ruse)
1942: quarterf.: Makedonija Bitola (0-3 vs SK Plovdiv)
1st round: ŽSK Skopje (1-2 vs Makedonija Bitola)
NB: Goce Delcev were founded 1941 and renamed Pobeda Prilep in 1950;
as such they won the 2003/04 Macedonian championship and 2001/02
Macedonian cup, also losing the 1999/00 cup final;
Makedonija Bitola are apparently not related to current Pelister;
Makedonija Skopje merged 1947 with Pobeda Skopje into Vardar Skopje
(see the section on Macedonian clubs in Yugoslavia); therefore,
neither the Makedonija Skopje nor the Vardar Skopje teams above are
related to the current clubs of those names, but the war-time
Makedonija Skopje is part of the genealogical tree of current Vardar;
it is unknown whether the railway club ŽSK (Željezničarski SK)
Skopje is related to any current club.
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Serbia
During the second World War, Germany, Hungary and Italy dismembered Yugoslavia, and created the 'independent' vassal state of Croatia, which also comprised current Bosnia-Herzegovina and some parts of current Serbia. During the war, football competitions were organised in this state, leading to the participation of many clubs based in Bosnia-Herzegovina and some from Zemun and Subotica. These are summarised below. See also the section on Yugoslavia.
The seasons 1940/41 and 1941 were played in a league format; the 1941 season was abandoned at the half-way stage. All later seasons had regional or city leagues from which clubs emerged to a knock-out tournament for the title (the 1943 season had a 4-team league as final stage). The most successful club from current Bosnia and Herzegovina was SAŠK Sarajevo, who reached the Croatian championship final in 1942.
Among the clubs listed here, SAŠK Sarajevo had previously played in the Yugoslav championship; they seem to have been dissolved after the war. Zrinjski Mostar have won the 2004/05 championship of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but it is unknown if and how this club are related to that of 1941. None of the mentioned clubs from Banja Luka appear to be related to either Borac Banja Luka or Krajišnik (dissolved 1945) who played in the Yugoslav championship. Likewise, Đerdelez Sarajevo appear unrelated to any later Sarajevo club that featured in Yugoslavia or independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Tomislav Zenica are not identical to Čelik Zenica.
SAŠK Sarajevo
1940/41 7.SAŠK Sarajevo 18 5 3 10 17-44 13
1941 9.SAŠK Sarajevo 8 0 0 8 0-30 0
NB: season abandoned
1942: semifinal: SAŠK Sarajevo (1-2, 1-9 vs Concordia Zagreb)
1943: quarterf.: SAŠK Sarajevo (0-0, 0-3awd vs Concordia Zagreb)
1944: finalists: SAŠK Sarajevo (final vs HAŠK Zagreb not played)
Zrinjski Mostar
1941 4.Zrinjski Mostar 8 4 1 3 16-19 9
NB: season abandoned
Incomplete lists of Bosnian and Herzegovinan participants at group
stage who did not reach the knock-out stage (unlike SAŠK Sarajevo):
1942: Zrinjski Mostar, Hrvoje Banja Luka, HBSK Banja Luka,
Đerdelez Sarajevo
1943: Hrvoje Banja Luka, HBSK Banja Luka, Đerdelez Sarajevo,
Tomislav Zenica
1944: HBSK Banja Luka, Zvonimir Banja Luka, Hrvoje Banja Luka,
Hajduk Sarajevo, Đerdelez Sarajevo, Tomislav Zenica
Bačka Subotica were dissolved in 1945. In 1950, a new club called Bačka Subotica was formed out of a merger between a number of local clubs. Neither version of the club has won any honours in Serbia (or Yugoslavia). Nothing is known about the fate of the Zemun clubs after World War II (they did not play a significant role in Yugoslavia before the war, though a club called Sparta Zemun played in the 1938/39 league); presumably they were all dissolved. Naša krila Zemun (dissolved 1950) and Galenika/FK Zemun are not related.
Bačka Subotica 1940/41 10.Bačka Subotica 18 2 3 13 19-58 7 Victoria Zemun 1941 8.Victoria Zemun 8 2 1 5 12-33 5 1943: quarterf.: HSK Zemun (0-4, 2-1 vs HAŠK Zagreb) 1944: 2nd round: Građanski Zemun (0-2, 0-3awd vs Borovo) Incomplete lists of Serbian participants at group stage who did not reach the knock-out stage: 1942: Građanski Zemun, Victoria Zemun 1944: Dunav Zemun, Građanski Zemun, Liet Zemun, Hajduk Zemun
During World War II, Italian troups occupied Albania and parts of Yugoslavia, including Kosovo. (The occupation started slightly before the war, in April 1939.) The Albanian FA organised three unofficial championships during this time (in 1939, 1940 and 1942); in the last of the three, three clubs from Kosovo entered.
The 1942 unofficial championship was organised in three regional zones; the three Kosovar participants (Peja, Prishtina and Prizreni, from the towns of Pejë, Prishtinë and Prizren respectively) played in the Zona e Veriut (northern zone) along with Shkodra from Shkodër. Prizreni won the zone (played as a single round robin) and qualified for the national semifinals along with runners-up Shkodra. They held favourites Tirana to a draw (after extra time) in their semifinal on June 26, 1942, but lost the replay the next day. Shkodra, the 1940 champions who had sensationally lost 1-3 away to Prizreni in the zonal stage, had meanwhile beaten Berati (from Berat, the winners of the southern zone) and played the final against Tirana on June 29; they drew 1-1 but refused to play extra time, and therefore Tirana were declared champions. Note that the teams were all denoted in the press by their town names, though they were commonly understood to be the leading club team (SK Tirana, Vllaznia Shkodër, Tomori Berat etcetera) from each town.
(unofficial war-time) Championship Prizreni 1942 1.Prizreni 3 3 0 0 10- 2 6 [northern zone] 1942: semifinal: Prizreni (2-2 aet, 1-2 vs Tirana) Peja 1942 3.Peja 3 0 1 2 3- 5 1 [northern zone] Prishtina 1942 4.Prishtina 3 0 1 2 2- 9 1 [northern zone]
Japan occupied the southern part of the Sakhalin island (known as Karafuto in Japanese) between 1905 and 1945; between 1918 and 1925 Japan also occupied the more northern region around Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky (Akō in Japanese), and it held all Kuril Islands (Chishima Islands) from Kunashir (main city Yuzhno-Kurilsk, Furukamappu in Japanese) to Paramushir (main city Severo-Kurilsk, Kashiwabara in Japanese) from 1875 to 1945 (Japan still claims the four southernmost Kuril islands, including Kunashir, but all are currently under Russian control). However, only on southern Sakhalin some minimal information on football activities during Japanese occupation is available. In 1921, first regional competitions in the southern part of Sakhalin were organised, in which teams from the cities of Toyohara (now Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Ōtomari (now Korsakov), Ochiai (now Dolinsk) and Maoka (now Kholmsk) participated, initiated by a publishing company. Starting from 1924 also youth competitions were organised. No data on winners are available.
Currently, Sakhalin has a regional championship at the fifth level of the Russian league pyramid, in which clubs from the above four cities as well as from southern Sakhalin cities such as Aniva (Rūtaka in Japanese), Makarov (Shirutoru in Japanese), Nevelsk (Honto in Japanese), Poronaysk (Shikuka in Japanese), Shakhtersk (Tōro in Japanese), Tomari (Tomarioru in Japanese) and Uglegorsk (Esutoru in Japanese) may enter.
In the 1992 and 1993 seasons, the region had a club playing at the second Russian level in Sakhalin Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, who played in the eastern zone (one of three regional divisions), and finished 13rd (out of 16) in 1992 and 10th (out of 16) in 1993 (a season in which they had relocated to Kholmsk). As a nationwide second division (Pervaya Liga) was established for the 1994 season, only the top-5 remained at the second level and Sakhalin missed out. Afterwards, no club from the region has played higher than the third Russian league level (eastern group), most recently the same Sakhalin Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the 2007 and 2008 seasons; at the end of the latter they were relegated and will join Portovik-Energiya Kholmsk at the fourth level (AFL Dalniy Vostok (Far East)).
Japan occupied large parts on the Asian continent (in particular Manchuria and Korea) and many Pacific islands prior to and during World War II. Not much is known about the Japanese football championship prior to the introduction of a national league in 1965, but two Korean clubs reached the final of the Emperor's Cup during Japanese occupation, one (Seoul Shukyu-dan - its contemporary Korean name is not clear) winning it. There supposedly also was a separate tournament for the national championship, twice won by Kyungsung (the contemporary name for Seoul) but no further data are available on the tournament.
Championship
1935: winners: Kyungsung (6-0 vs Nagoya)
1936: winners: Kyungsung (4 4 0 0 15- 3 8)
NB: Kyungsung (modern transcription: Gyeongseong) was the contemporary
name of Seoul.
Emperor's Cup
1935: winners: Seoul Shukyu-dan (2-0 vs Tokyo Bunri University)
1936: finalists: Poseung College (2-3 vs Keio University BRB)
NB: Poseung College (also spelled Posung College) currently called
Korea University and based in Seoul
See the section on splits and unifications for a discussion of the four bantustans who were nominally independent from South Africa during the last decade and a half of the apartheid regime.
After World War I, the former German colony of Südwestafrika became a League of Nations mandate area entrusted to South Africa. After World War II, South Africa annexed the country, without international recognition. After a struggle of decades, the area gained independence as Namibia in 1990, a few years before the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa. During South African rule, various clubs from the region reached the national second division (in the all-white NFL), though never the top flight. In 1966, the first season in which the South West African league structure was integrated into the NFL, South West African champions SK Windhoek entered the promotion playoffs to the top level, but lost 0-9 to Corinthians (who were promoted). Only a few second division league finishes of Windhoek clubs are known, see below. After the 1974 season, Windhoek City merged with SK Windhoek into Sportklub Windhoek City; the merger club continued playing in the second division until the NFL was dissolved in 1977.
South West Africa also entered the amateur championship on South Africa, which was run on an inter-provincial basis, and once won it, in the late 80s, with Frankie Fredericks (the later Olympic medal winner in sprinting) in their team.
The city of Walvis Bay (founded as Walvisbaai between 1720 and 1725, and known as Walfischbucht in German) was part of the South African Cape Province between 1910 and 1911 and again between 1971 and 1977, when the area came under direct rule by the South African government. It was returned to independent Namibia in 1994, after the end of apartheid. A local club, Sparta United, entered the early rounds of the South African cup on various occasions.
NFL - National Division II 1969 9.Windhoek Ramblers 18 5 1 12 19-70 11 1974 8.Windhoek City 24 9 5 10 44-46 23
Like Ceuta and Melilla, which are still Spanish territories, Ifni (now in southwestern Morocco) was a coastal Spanish exclave during colonial times, and, unlike Tetuán, remained Spanish when Morocco gained independence. Between 1946 and 1958 it was ruled together with Western Sahara before becoming an overseas Spanish province on its own after a Moroccan invasion attempt. In 1969, following international pressure, Spain relinquished the area to Morocco.
Morocco occupied Western Sahara shortly after Spain released the area into independence. Two clubs from the main city Laâyoune (El Ayoun) have played in the top division, though without much tangible success; however, JS de la Massira reached the semifinals of the national cup competition, the Coupe du Thrône, on 4 separate occasions.
When Ifni was relinquished to Morocco in 1969, 4 local football clubs existed: Balompédica CF, CD Africa, Atlético Español de Fútbol and CD Ifni. All were based in the capital town Sidi Ifni. It is unknown how these clubs performed within the Spanish football structure or whether regional championships were organised.
Currently, Tihad Sidi Ifni are playing at the third level in Morocco (they may have played at the second level previously, but probably not at the first level). As Tihad is short for Ittihad, meaning Union, they may have been created as a merger of the old 'Spanish' clubs.
CSE Laâyoune were the first club from the area to be promoted to the Moroccan top level league, in 1984, but they only lasted three seasons there (and the third only because of an extension of the top flight to 24 clubs, distributed over 2 groups).
Championship 1984/85 ?.CSE Laâyoune 1985/86 19.CSE Laâyoune 38 6 11 21 20-48 61 1986/87 11.CSE Laâyoune 22 2 6 14 28-49 32 [group A]In 1995, the Auxiliary Forces team, based in Ben Slimane, who had finished ninth in the 1994/95 league championship, were moved to Laâyoune and renamed Jeunesse Sportive de la Massira; Massira is the name for the "Green March", staged on November 6, 1975 by about 300,000 (unarmed) Moroccans occupying areas of the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara rich in natural resources. The club have not been relegated since, and occasionally manage a finish in the top half of the table. They have enjoyed more (relative) success in the Coupe du Thrône, having reached (and being eliminated at) the semifinal stage on 4 occasions.
Championship
1995/96 10.JS de la Massira 30 9 13 8 31-30 40
1996/97 4.JS de la Massira 30 14 9 7 43-30 51
1997/98 12.JS de la Massira 30 9 8 13 26-36 35
1998/99 9.JS de la Massira 30 10 6 14 26-43 36
1999/00 13.JS de la Massira 30 4 15 11 19-34 27
2000/01 14.JS de la Massira 30 6 12 12 27-33 30
2001/02 9.JS de la Massira 30 8 11 11 32-45 35
2002/03 8.JS de la Massira 30 7 13 10 25-32 34
2003/04 11.JS de la Massira 30 7 14 9 20-25 35
2004/05 5.JS de la Massira 30 9 12 9 26-25 39
2005/06 13.JS de la Massira 30 5 17 8 23-26 32
2006/07 8.JS de la Massira 30 8 13 9 21-21 37
2007/08 9.JS de la Massira 30 8 14 8 27-28 38
2008/09 13.JS de la Massira 30 8 10 12 31-41 32 [-2]
NB: JS Massira had two points deducted
Cup
1997: semifinal: JS de la Massira (2-3 vs WAC Casablanca)
2000: 1/8 final: JS de la Massira (1-1 aet, 2-4 pen vs KAC Kénitra)
2001: semifinal: JS de la Massira (1-4 vs MAS Fès)
2002: 1/8 final: JS de la Massira (0-1 vs KAC Marrakech)
2003: quarterf.: JS de la Massira (2-3 aet vs Raja Casablanca)
2004: semifinal: JS de la Massira (0-1 vs FAR Rabat)
2005: semifinal: JS de la Massira (0-1 vs OC Khouribga)
Eritrea became an autonomous state within Ethiopia in 1952, and remained so until 1962 when Addis Abeba revoked the autonomy and factually annexed the country, its only access to the Red Sea. After a lenghty war, Eritrea were granted independence in 1993.
The first season in which Eritrean clubs entered the Ethiopian football structure was 1953; it is not known for how long they continued to participate actively, but until the mid seventies they did so with considerably success, in particular in the late fifties and early seventies in the league, and in the eighties in the cup.
We only list Eritrean clubs winning the national
championship or cup, as only limited data are available. Among the
clubs listed, Red Sea (also known as Key Baher) won the
championship of independent Eritrea 6 times since 1995. None of
the others appear to have 'survived' independence; in any case none
are mentioned in the (sparse) available data on football in independent
Eritrea. Akale Guzay (1958 Ethiopian champions) was the former name
of Embassoyra (1974 champions), and Asmara (1972 and 1973 champions of
Ethiopia) were known as Hamassien (champions 1955 and 1957) before.
As far as is known, all clubs mentioned are or were based in the
Eritrean capital Asmara.
Note that Hamassien/Asmara, Akale Guzay/Embassoyra and Tele SC all
played in the 1946/47 Eritrean championship under Italian rule.
Hamassien won the 1949 Coppa Torino in the colonial era. A club
called Mar Rosso also existed at the time, but reportedly was
dissolved and so presumably not related to the aforementioned
Red Sea, Ethiopian cup winners of 1981 and 1983.
Championship
1955 1.Hamassien
1957 1.Hamassien
1958 1.Akale Guzay
1959 1.Tele SC
1969 1.Tele SC
1970 1.Tele SC
1972 1.Asmara
1973 1.Asmara
1974 1.Embassoyra
NB: in 1953, Hamassien lost the championship final 3-4 to Army (from
Addis Abeba);
some sources claim Red Sea (Asmara) won the 1948 championship, but
apparently the champions were Red Sea (Addis Abeba).
Cup
1970: winners: Asmara
1981: winners: Red Sea
1983: winners: Red Sea
1984: winners: Eritrea Shoes
1985: winners: Eritrea Shoes
1987: winners: Eritrea Shoes
Note that China only organises an national football championship since 1951, so after Taiwan became de facto independent. Prior to this, there were National Games (7 editions between 1910 and 1948, held on 10 occasions since) and Inter-Sectional Football Championships (7 editions between 1926 and 1933) but the island of Taiwan was never involved in any of those. Hongkong did participate in various National Games, as did selections of Chinese from Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand; see the section on border moves.
Tibet, which had been de facto independent from 1913 to 1950,
was annexed by China in 1951. Nothing is known about football in
the region prior to the annexation. In recent years, two
'Tibet' club teams played at the third level of the Chinese
league structure. In 2003, Beijing-based Tibet Xuequan did so;
in 2004 Tibet Huitong Luhua, based in Baoding (Hebei province)
entered. This club moved to Beijing for 2005, and reached the
promotion playoffs. After their quarterfinal exit, the club
bought the franchise of second level Dalian Changbo, relocated
to Taiyuan (after first intending to play in Heilongjiang
province - the completely opposite side of China seen from Tibet)
and renamed it Shanxi Luhu. Before the 2007 season, the club was
renamed Hohhot and relocated to the city of that name, the capital
of Inner Mongolia. None of the cities mentioned is remotely
close to Tibet - Taiyuan is about 2000 kilometres from Lhasa,
as the bird flies, and the others are (much) further away. So
the relationship of these two clubs with Tibet is probably comparable
to that of Montevideo-based clubs Bristol, Dublin and Liverpool (all
once top level clubs in Uruguay) with the corresponding cities
in Britain and Ireland.
Much earlier, in 1965, a Tibet 'representative' team
finished 5th (from 15) in one of the four Division Two
groups, missing out on the second level championship playoffs.
In the seventies, the Chinese football championship involved
up to 45 teams, mostly provincial selections, army units or
youth sides. Tibet participated on various occasions. These
tournaments were played in four first stage groups,
with the best teams playing off for the title and the others
for the lower placings. In 1974, Tibet withdrew
from the playoffs for 25th to 45th place which they were to
enter; in 1976, the second stage was not played because of the
upheavals following the death of Mao. In 1978, a 16-team top
flight was installed, and Tibet entered Division 2, finishing 20th
from 22. In 1979, they dropped 2 places and finished bottom
of Division 2. Since then, no Tibet representation or club team
has played above the third level, with the exception of the 1986
season when the second division had 33 teams and Tibet finished 5th
in their 9-team first round group.
Championship Tibet (4 top level seasons) 1973 32.Tibet 17 1 0 16 9-53 2 [aggregate record] 1974 -.Tibet 9 0 0 9 5-29 0 [first stage] 1976 -.Tibet 9 1 4 4 9-17 6 [first stage] 1977 38.Tibet 15 1 5 9 18-33 7 [aggregate record] NB: no championship organised in 1975.
Since obtaining independence from Britian, India's borders underwent several changes. The most spectacular was the separation from Pakistan (later split into Pakistan and Bangladesh; with Pakistan there is a long standing conflict on the Jammu and Kashmir region - teams from the part currently controlled by India occasionally enter Indian tournaments, but it is not known whether there ever were football competitions covering the entire region). There were also several additions: India annexed 'French India' (Karikal, Yanaon and Mahé) in 1956 and the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Diu and Damão in 1962, as well as Sikkim through a referendum in 1975.
Football was reportedly introduced to Goa in 1883, but before Goa came to India in 1962, an official league had been going on for just a decade. The ten league championships played out between 1951/52 and 1960/61 were shared by CD Vasco da Gama (3 titles), AD Velha Goa (2 titles), CD Chinchinim, Independente de Margao, GD Polícia, CD Salgaocar and Sporting Clube de Goa (all 1 title); among those 7 clubs, Salgaocar (renamed Salgaocar SC) won 17 Goan leagues between 1962/63 and 2008, Vasco da Gama (renamed Vasco SC) 3 and Sporting Clube de Goa 1 (in 2006 - their first championship since 1952/53).
Moreover, Goan clubs have played a dominant role since the introduction of a national football league in India in the 1996/97 season, seriously challenging Calcutta's long-time undisputed standing as the strongest football region in the country. Although Goan clubs claimed just 5 (Salgaocar in 1998/99, Dempo in 2004/05, 2006/07 and 2007/08 and Churchill Brothers in 2008/09) of the 13 disputed championships (against 6 for Calcutta (nowadays officially called Kolkata) - 3 each for the two eternal rivals East Bengal and Mohun Bagan), Goa showed considerable greater strength in depth: among the thirteen league runners-up, 7 were from Goa, which also accounted for 7 of the teams finishing third.
Goa's strength in depth was particularly clear in the first few years after the turn of the millennium: in 2002/03 the tiny state, accounting for little more than 0.1 percent of the country's surface and population, provided 4 of the 12 league clubs (Calcutta 3) and all finished in the top-6; in 2003/04 Goa fielded 5 of the 12 top flight outfits (Calcutta 4) and all finished in the top-8; and in 2004/05 the former Portuguese colony accounted for half (6 out of 12) of the top division participants (Calcutta just 3), claiming the top two positions as well. Although all 6 Goan clubs finished in the top-10, a reduction of the league (from 12 to 10 participants) meant 2 Goan clubs were relegated, and as another 2 went down in 2005/06 (while Churchill Brothers went the opposite direction), 2006/07 had 'just' 3 Goan participants among the 10 top flight teams - equal to Calcutta's share. In 2007/08, Goa again fielded 4 clubs, against just 2 for Calcutta and Mumbai; due to an extension of the top flight to 12 clubs, the 2008/09 had 4 clubs from both Calcutta and Goa and 3 from Mumbai. In 2009/10, Goa will lead again with 4 clubs as compared to 3 for both Mumbai and Calcutta. In each and every league season so far, Goa had the highest number of teams participating (sometimes equalled, but never bested, by Calcutta).
Note that the seasons 1996/97 and 1998/99 were played over two stages, with a 2-group first stage from which 8 clubs qualified for the championship playoff.
Championship Churchill Brothers SC (13 top level seasons) 1996/97 2.Churchill Brothers SC 19 10 6 3 27-16 36 [aggregate record] 1997/98 9.Churchill Brothers SC 18 4 7 7 20-26 19 1998/99 3.Churchill Brothers SC 20 7 8 5 27-21 29 [aggregate record] 1999/00 2.Churchill Brothers SC 22 12 5 5 36-17 41 2000/01 3.Churchill Brothers SC 22 10 6 6 32-25 36 2001/02 2.Churchill Brothers SC 22 12 6 4 44-19 42 2002/03 5.Churchill Brothers SC 22 10 7 5 33-22 37 2003/04 4.Churchill Brothers SC 22 10 6 6 29-24 36 2004/05 9.Churchill Brothers SC 22 5 8 9 23-33 23 2006/07 4.Churchill Brothers SC 18 7 8 3 30-23 29 2007/08 2.Churchill Brothers SC 18 11 3 4 40-22 36 2008/09 1.Churchill Brothers SC 22 13 7 2 53-23 46 Dempo SC (11 top level seasons) 1996/97 4.Dempo SC 19 8 6 5 26-18 30 [aggregate record] 1997/98 6.Dempo SC 18 5 7 6 20-22 22 1998/99 5.Dempo SC 10 2 3 5 6-11 9 [group A] 1999/00 12.Dempo SC 22 1 8 13 9-34 11 2002/03 6.Dempo SC 22 10 5 7 34-29 35 2003/04 2.Dempo SC 22 12 9 1 28-12 45 2004/05 1.Dempo SC 22 14 5 3 28-17 47 2005/06 5.Dempo SC 17 6 7 4 29-22 25 2006/07 1.Dempo SC 18 11 3 4 37-21 36 2007/08 1.Dempo SC 18 10 6 2 35-13 36 2008/09 4.Dempo SC 22 8 7 7 35-26 31 Salgaocar SC (11 top level seasons) 1996/97 7.Salgaocar SC 19 5 7 7 10-13 22 [aggregate record] 1997/98 3.Salgaocar SC 18 8 6 4 19-13 30 1998/99 1.Salgaocar SC 20 11 6 3 34-14 39 [aggregate record] 1999/00 3.Salgaocar SC 22 11 6 5 26-15 39 2000/01 6.Salgaocar SC 22 8 2 12 23-26 26 2001/02 4.Salgaocar SC 22 10 9 3 32-17 39 2002/03 2.Salgaocar SC 22 13 5 4 43-17 44 2003/04 7.Salgaocar SC 22 7 6 9 24-23 27 2004/05 6.Salgaocar SC 22 7 7 8 26-24 28 2005/06 9.Salgaocar SC 17 2 6 9 15-29 12 2007/08 10.Salgaocar SC 18 1 8 9 20-37 11 Vasco SC (6 top level seasons) 2000/01 5.Vasco SC 22 5 12 5 13-17 27 2001/02 3.Vasco SC 22 12 4 6 28-20 40 2002/03 3.Vasco SC 22 12 7 3 40-21 43 2003/04 6.Vasco SC 22 6 10 6 22-19 28 2004/05 10.Vasco SC 22 5 5 12 25-37 20 2008/09 12.Vasco SC 22 2 4 16 14-49 19 Sporting Clube de Goa (6 top level seasons) 2003/04 8.Sporting Clube de Goa 22 7 6 9 34-35 27 2004/05 2.Sporting Clube de Goa 22 14 3 5 46-23 45 2005/06 4.Sporting Clube de Goa 17 6 7 4 24-16 25 2006/07 6.Sporting Clube de Goa 18 6 7 5 23-19 25 2007/08 7.Sporting Clube de Goa 18 4 7 7 14-24 19 2008/09 3.Sporting Clube de Goa 22 13 4 5 28-20 43 Fransa FC (2 top level seasons, 1 abandoned) 2004/05 5.Fransa FC 22 8 6 8 24-26 30 2005/06 10.Fransa-Pax FC 9 0 4 5 2-13 4 Federation Cup 1987: finalists: Salgaocar SC (0-2 vs Mohun Bagan) 1988: winners: Salgaocar SC (1-0 vs Border Security Force) 1989: winners: Salgaocar SC (2-0 aet vs Mohammedan Sporting) 1990: finalists: Salgaocar SC (1-2 vs Kerala Police) 1994: finalists: Salgaocar SC (0-0 aet, 3-4 pen vs Mohun Bagan) 1996: finalists: Dempo SC (1-2 asdet vs East Bengal) 1997: winners: Salgaocar SC (2-1 asdet vs East Bengal) 2001: finalists: Dempo SC (0-2 vs Mohun Bagan) 2004: winners: Dempo SC (2-0 vs Mohun Bagan) 2005: finalists: Sporting Clube de Goa (1-2 aet vs Mahindra United) 2006: finalists: Sporting Clube de Goa (1-1 aet, 2-3 pen vs Mohun Bagan) 2008: finalists: Dempo SC (0-1 vs Mohun Bagan)
The until then independent Himalaya kingdom of Sikkim, bordering to
its west on Nepal, to its north on China (more precisely, Tibet) and
to its east on Bhutan, entered India as its 22nd state following a
referendum in 1975 (after an earlier rejection by popular vote
in 1947; after that, Sikkim had obtained a special 'protectorate'
status). China did not recognise this move until 2003; in return
India then recognised China's possession of Tibet.
The capital of the state is Gangtok, also its largest town.
Currently the most important football tournament in the region
is the invitational Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup, which draws
participants from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal; the 2006
edition even included a team from Nigeria. Its inaugural edition
in 1979 was won by local side GMC from Gangtok; since then, no
local team has reached the final.
Prior to 1975, the dominant teams in Sikkim had been Sikkim Guards
and Kumar Sporting Club (which already won an unspecified tournament
outside of Sikkim in 1948); in the early seventies, they were joined by
1/3rd Gorkha Rifles, an army team which had been moved to Sikkim.
No information is available on domestic competitions in Sikkim
in this era. Sikkim representative teams played in tournaments
outside the area (e.g. in Darjeeling) as well, but also here
details are lacking. The current Sikkim FA was formed in 1976;
its predecessor was the Gangtok Football and Sporting Association.
Since the inclusion of the state in India, Sikkim are irregular and
unsuccessful entrants in the Santosh Trophy, a competition for
state selections. This is (usually) played over two group stages
followed by semifinals and final. In their best ever performance,
in 2004, Sikkim reached the
quarterfinal group stage (involving 12 teams divided in 4 groups of 3)
after beating both Orissa and Pondicherry 4-3; they then lost both
second stage matches heavily (1-5 to Manipur and 1-6 to Karnataka).
In the league pyramid, a Sikkim club team once entered the second
level (played in various regional groups followed by a final national
stage in which promotion can be earned); in recent years, the
Sikkim FA usually declined the invitation to enter a club, presumably
because of the prospective lack of success. Sikkim's main claim to
fame in football terms is the fact that Baichung Bhutia, the best
Indian player in recent years, was born there.
Championship (Division 2) Boys Athletic Club (Gangtok) 2001/02 5.Boys Athletic Club 3 0 0 3 1- 7 0 NB: result of last group match (presumably lost) unknown Cup (Santosh Trophy) Sikkim (best ever performance only) 2004 -.Sikkim 4 2 0 2 10-14 6 [aggregate record]
East Timor | Western New Guinea
Indonesian invaded the former Portuguese colony East Timor in 1975, when Portugal had granted the area independence, and occupied it until 1999, the western world being rather more lenient with Suharto than with Saddam Hussein when he invaded Kuwait under comparable pretexts a decade and a half later. It is not known to what extent clubs from the area participated at the lower echelons of Indonesian league football, but one club is reported to have played at the national stage of (presumably) the second level of the 1991/92 amateur championship, Perserikatan. Summa FC from East Timor played two matches in Sleman (near Yogyakarta, central Java) against local side PSK Kalasan (to whom they lost 1-2) and Surabaya amateur team Suryanaga (who beat them 4-1) as part of the national stage (last 16) of the Divisi Satu (division one, second level) of the 1991/92 Perserikatan.
Perserikatan - Divisi Satu 1992: group st.: Summa FC (2 0 0 2 2- 6 0)
When Indonesia became independent in 1949, the Netherlands kept the western part of New Guinea, which remained a Dutch colony until 1961. It was to obtain full independence by 1971, but following Indonesian mobilisation and pressure from the US administration under Kennedy, the Netherlands handed over the territory to UN administration in October 1962, which in turn handed the area to Indonesia in May 1963. A plebiscite was organised in 1969, which resulted in a 100% vote for continued Indonesian rule.
During Dutch rule, football was mainly played at local
level, in particular in and around the capital Hollandia
(founded in 1910 and currently called Jayapura after a temporary
name change to Sukarnopura),
where two football associations existed, both organising their
own competitions, namely the VHO (Voetbalbond Hollandia en
Omstreken), which initially was restricted to Europeans and
their descendants, and the VBH (Voetbal Bond Hollandia),
in which the local population had a place (in later years,
Papua's also gained access to the VHO). Occasionally matches
between selections from Hollandia and Biak were organised.
No data on championships or other competitions are available,
but we include some data on clubs existing prior to the
Indonesian takeover below.
The following 12 clubs belonged to the VHO:
from Hollandia:
HBS (Houdt Braef Stand; club colour: black;
founded January 24, 1952),
Hercules (club colours: red-white),
MKH (club colours: white-navy blue),
POMS (Perumuman Olahraga Maluku Selatan - referring
to the Southern Moluccas; club colour: red),
Sparta (club colours: red-white)
and VIOS (Vooruit Is Ons Streven; club colours: blue-light blue;
founded March 1957);
from Hollandia-Binnen (also known as Kota Baroe):
EDO (Eendracht Doet Overwinnen; club colours: green-white),
MVV (Missie Voetbal Vereniging; club colour: green),
WIK (Willen Is Kunnen; blue-white; founded 1950) and
ZIGO (Zonder Inspanning Geen Ontspanning; club colours:
yellow-black);
and from Hamadi:
HVC (club colour: blue) and
Zeemacht (club colours: orange-white).
Of these, at least the following 8 clubs entered the VHO league
in 1961: EDO, HBS, Hercules, HVC, POMS, WIK, Zeemacht and ZIGO.
VBH clubs included:
DVG (Dienst Gezondheidszorg), Juliana (representing the
Osiba, i.e. Opleidingsschool voor inheemse bestuursambtenaren)
KSB (Kami Suku Mebri/Sentani),
LON (Latihan Olahraga Nafri),
LOS (Latihan Olahraga Sentani)
and SPS (Serikat Pemuda Supiori); in addition, clubs from
Enggros, Ifar and Tobati (each a village (kampong)
near Hollandia, as was Sentani and presumably Nafri) may have
taken part.
It is unknown whether any of these clubs survived since the area became Indonesian; the current top club from the island, Persipura from Jayapura, was founded in 1950 and may be related to one of the above (presumably a former VBH club, as their club colours are white-black and do not seem to fit any former VHO club). Persipura won the 2005 Indonesian championship, beating hosts Persija 3-2 after extra time in the final in Jakarta. In 2006, Persipura lost the Indonesian cup final (for the Copa Dji Sam Soe) 0-2 to Arema from Malang, a feat they repeated in 2007, losing the final to Sriwijaya FC from Palembang after a penalty shoot-out (1-1 aet, 0-3 pen). They claimed their second national title in Indonesia in 2008/09. They also were runners-up in the amateur championship of 1980, losing the final 1-3 to Persiraja from Banda Aceh (capital of Aceh in Northern Sumatra, a region with a strong independence movement dating back to colonial times) and won the last ever second level (Divisi Satu) championship of the Perserikatan in 1993 (the amateur and semiprofessional league structures merged in 1994), a championship they had won before in 1979.
Other clubs from the area playing a role in the higher levels of the Indonesian league structure are Persiwa from Wamena (supposedly founded in 1925; they play at top level since 2006 and together with Persipura qualified for the 8-team championship playoff in January 2008), Perseman from Manokwari (founded in 1950 and winners of the second level Divisi Satu of the Perserikatan in 1984; promoted to the top level for the 2007 season but relegated immediately), Persidafon from Dafonsoro (at the second level 2007), Persiss from Sorong, PSBS from Biak Numfor, Persigubin from Gunung Bintang, Persinab from Nabire and Freeport Indonesia (all third level clubs 2007) as well as Persewon from Wondama (promoted from the fourth to third level 2007, but due to a reorganisation of the league structure they remained at the fourth level 2008).
Note that Indonesia also took control over the Southern Moluccas (Maluku Selatan) against the perceived will of the majority of the population (which migrated in great numbers to the Netherlands) shortly after gaining independence. However, nothing is known about a separate regional football structure for this group of islands prior to their annexation by Indonesia. The POMS club in Hollandia listed above presumably was founded by refugees from there.
Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, following the Six-Day war. For the definition of Israel, Palestine and British Palestine in the context of this document, see the section on British Palestine.
Various Arab clubs were set up in Israel in the 1950s and
1960s, in cities such as Akko, Furaydis, Jaljulia, Kafr-Kana,
Kafr-Kasem, Kafr-Yassif, Lod, Majd El-Kurum, Meilya, Nazareth,
Taibe, Tarshiha and Tira. The first of these to reach the Israeli
top flight were Hapoel Taibe in 1996/97, but they lasted only one
season. In 2003, two Arab clubs won promotion from the second
level, the Liga Leumit; champions Maccabi Ahi Nazareth were
immediately relegated in 2003/04, but runners-up, Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin,
lasted three seasons and won the 2003/04 Israeli cup, thereby qualifying
for the 2004/05 UEFA Cup. They were relegated at the end of 2005/06
but returned to the top flight for the 2007/08 season.
But Palestinian clubs from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are
restricted to their own regional championships and cups (interaction
between the two areas has been minimal) and no clubs from the area
have entered the Israeli league structure, apart from clubs from Jewish
settlements in the area, who form leagues at the Israeli lower levels.
Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1948, following the
Arab-Israeli War, and lost it to Israel in 1967,
following the Six-Day war. In 1988, Jordan relinquished
its claims on the area.
For the definition of Palestine (including the West Bank)
in the context of this document, see the section on
British Palestine.
Nothing is known about clubs from the West Bank entering Jordan football competitions.
However, following the 1948 mass exodus of Palestinians from areas now in Israel, a number of Palestinian clubs were formed in Jordan, such as Al-Wahdat (founded 1956), Shabab Al-Hussein (1954) and Al-Baqa'a (1968), all named after Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. Most successful has been Al-Wahdat ("Unity", referring to the unity between both banks of the Jordan river; the club was temporarily called Al-Deffatain ("The Two Banks") between 1986 and 1988, when Jordan withdrew its claim on the West Bank). They joined the Jordan league in 1966, reached the top level in 1975, and have since won 10 Jordan championships, 6 Jordan cups, 8 Jordan Super Cups and 7 Jordan FA Shields. But as they are based within the internationally recognised borders of Jordan, they do not qualify as 'club from Palestine in Jordan'. Other 'Palestinian' clubs were formed in other Arab countries, in particular Syria and Iraq, where Nadi Haifa Al-Riyadhi (Haifa Sports Club, founded 1979 and named after the city from which the first wave of Palestinian refugees to Iraq originated, but based in Baghdad) played one season (1999/00) in the top division, finishing 26th and last after winning 3 and drawing 9 of their 50(!) matches.
Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip in 1948, following the
Arab-Israeli War, and lost it to Israel in 1967,
following the Six-Day war.
For the definition of Palestine (including the Gaza Strip)
in the context of this document, see the section on
British Palestine.
There was a regional league in the Gaza Strip in the 1960s, but no data are available, and it is not known whether there was any (competitive) interaction between clubs from the Gaza Strip and those in the regular Egyptian league structure.
Algeria | French Guyana | Guadeloupe | Martinique | Mayotte | Morocco | New Caledonia | Reunion | Tahiti (French Polynesia) | Tunisia
Clubs from Northern Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) entered the Coupe de France between 1954 and 1960 (the Moroccan and Tunisian clubs only until 1956). The best ever performance of any such club undoubtedly was the win of SC Union El Biar over Stade de Reims (European Cup finalists the previous season!) in Toulouse, on February 3, 1957. Until 1957/58, the African clubs did not meet those from France itself (the Hèxagone) until the sixth round (the last round before the 1/32 finals, the stage at which the top level clubs entered); in 1958/59 and 1959/60, Algerian teams already played European ones in the fifth round.
Clubs from the French overseas regions
(Départements d'Outre-Mer, abbreviated D.O.M., which
legally have the same status as the departments in the Hèxagone,
and Territoires d'Outre-Mer, abbreviated T.O.M., which have
a more 'colonial' status) have entered the Coupe de France, the
French domestic cup, since the 1961/62 season, when CS Moulien from
Guadeloupe played a fifth round tie against FC Dieppe, losing 2-3.
The first
club to win a tie were Golden Star from Martinique in 1974/75,
who eliminated third level US Melun after a replay before losing 0-8
to OGC Nice.
So far, three overseas clubs have managed to survive two rounds: in 1988/89,
ASC Geldar from Kourou in French Guyana eliminated EAC Chaumont
and FC Sens before losing 0-11 on aggregate
(over 2 legs) to top club FC Nantes; in 1994/95,
SS Saint-Louisienne from Reunion threw SA Epinal and Chamois
Niortais out of the cup before succumbing to top level side
AS Cannes, and in 2008/09 SS Jeanne d'Arc, also from Reunion,
eliminated Saint-Louis Neuweg and SC Feignies, before losing 1-7
at home to second level club Tours FC in round 9.
The 2007/08 cup was a particularly good one for the clubs from the
Caribbean region: the 3 participants from French Guyana, Guadeloupe
and Martinique all won their ties in the seventh (and first national)
round; it was the second time ever this happened (after 1980/81).
However, all were eliminated in the eighth round (as 27 years before).
Currently, the overseas clubs enter in the seventh round
of the tournament (which is still far from the final - top level clubs
do not enter until the ninth round, corresponding to the round of 64
(1/32 finals) and the cup final is the fourteenth round). In all
regions, a knock-out tournament called Coupe de France (or
Coupe de France régionale) is played (separately from the
'normal' cup tournament of the region) whose winners earn a tie
against a club from the European continent.
Below all entrants from the French overseas regions are listed, as well
as all the ties in which they were successful; additional information
can be found in the file on
D.O.M./T.O.M. Clubs in the Coupe de France.
For all clubs, seasons in which they survived one tie are given in italics, those in which they eliminated two clubs in bold face.
SC Union El Biar eliminated Stade de Reims (who had narrowly (3-4, after taking a 2-0 lead, and conceding the winning goal in the 79th minute) lost the 1955/56 European Cup final against Real Madrid!) in Toulouse, on February 3, 1957. Stade de Reims were the third club from France itself to fall to the pieds noirs that season, making SCUEB's run in the 1956/57 Coupe de France easily the best ever by any 'colonial' club in a European cup competition.
Below, all Algerian teams to have met European opposition from the 6th round (the second inter-ligues round, and the last before the 1/32 finals, at which stage the French top level clubs entered) onwards are listed; various clubs also played French clubs in the fifth rounds of 1958/59 (FC Oran - lost to SC Bastia) and 1959/60 (CAL Oran - lost to SC Draguignan; and ASPTT Constantine - lost to CA Montreuil after 2 replays). Prior to beating Red Star Alger in the 6th round 1959/60, AGS Mascara had already eliminated Stade Saint-Germain in the fifth round.
City name correspondence:
colonial current
Bône Annaba
Cup
1955: 6th round: FC Blida (0-5 vs UA Sedan-Torcy)
IS Mostaganem (0-3 vs Stade Rennais)
Jeunesse Bône AC (lost vs Stade Français)
1956: 6th round: Gallia Sports Alger (0-1 vs Olympique Alès)
SC Bel-Abbès (0-4 vs FC Nantes)
AS Saint Eugène Alger (0-3 vs Stade Français)
1957: 6th round: SC Union El Biar (2-0 vs SO Montpellier)
Gallia Sports Alger (0-5 vs RCFC Besançon)
Gallia Club Oran (1-3 aet vs FC Sète)
SC Bel-Abbès (1-2 vs FC Nantes)
AS Batna (1-4 aet vs SC Draguignan)
1/32 fin.: SC Union El Biar (1-1 aet, 1-0 vs AS Aix-en-Provence)
1/16 fin.: SC Union El Biar (2-0 vs Stade de Reims)
1/8 final: SC Union El Biar (0-4 vs Lille OSC)
1958: 6th round: Gallia Sports Alger (2-1 vs CA Paris)
SC Bel-Abbès (1-2 vs RC Strasbourg)
Racing Univ. Alger (0-8 vs Stade Rennais)
IS Mostaganem (1-7 vs SO Montpellier)
AS Bône (2-6 vs AS Cannes)
1/32 fin.: Gallia Sports Alger (1-1 aet, 0-1 vs Stade Rennais)
1959: 6th round: Olympique Hussein-Dey (0-0 aet, 4-2 vs CO Roubaix-Tourcoing)
SC Bel-Abbès (2-0 vs CA Paris)
Red Star Alger (0-4 vs SC Toulon)
ROP Constantine (0-2 vs FC Sète)
1/32 fin.: Olympique Hussein-Dey (1-2 vs RCFC Besançon)
SC Bel-Abbès (0-1 aet vs Stade Rennais)
1960: 6th round: AGS Mascara (1-0 vs Red Star Alger)
Red Star Alger (0-1 vs AGS Mascara)
SC Bel-Abbès (0-6 vs Olympique de Marseille)
AS Batna (0-4 vs FC Grenoble)
AS Saint Eugène Alger (1-5 vs FC Nancy)
1/32 fin.: AGS Mascara (0-1 vs AS Cannes)
Cup
37 entries, 5 wins
CSCC [Club Colonial] (Cayenne) [9 entries, 2 wins]
entries: 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1987/88, 1991/92,
2000/01, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09
won ties: 1977/78 CA Mantes 0-1 Club Colonial [aet] (rd 7)
2007/08 Bastia CA 1-1 CSCC [aet, 2-4 pen] (rd 7)
AS Saint-Georges (Cayenne) [6 entries, 1 win]
entries: 1966/67, 1975/76, 1980/81, 1996/97, 1997/98,
1999/00
won tie: 1980/81 AJ Saint-Georges 0-0 Véloce Vannes US [aet, 7-6 pen] (rd 7)
Sport Guyanais (Cayenne) [5 entries]
entries: 1973/74, 1982/83, 1985/86, 1989/90, 1993/94
US Matoury [4 entries]
entries: 1998/99, 2001/02, 2003/04, 2005/06
ASC Le Geldar (Kourou) [3 entries, 2 wins]
entries: 1983/84, 1988/89, 2002/03
won ties: 1988/89 ASC Le Geldar 1-1 EAC Chaumont [aet, 5-4 pen] (rd 8)
FC Sens 1-2 ASC Le Geldar (rd 9)
US Macouria [2 entries]
entries: 1995/96, 2004/05
AS Jahouvey Mana [2 entries]
entries: 1986/87, 1992/93
USL Montjoly [2 entries]
entries: 1981/82, 1984/85
Olympique de Cayenne [2 entries]
entries: 1974/75, 1976/77
SC Kouroucien (Kourou) [1 entry]
entry: 1990/91
US Sinnamary [1 entry]
entry: 1994/95
Cup
37 entries, 6 wins
Etoile (Morne-à-l'Eau) [9 entries, 2 wins]
entries: 1977/78, 1982/83, 1984/85, 1988/89, 1992/93,
1994/95, 1996/97, 2000/01, 2003/04
won ties: 2000/01 AS Muret 0-2 Etoile (rd 7)
2003/04 Etoile 2-2 US Romorantin [aet, 4-2 pen] (rd 7)
CS Moulien (Moule) [6 entries, 2 wins]
entries: 1961/62, 1980/81, 1987/88, 2005/06, 2006/07,
2007/08
won ties: 1980/81 AAJ Blois 1-2 CS Moulien (rd 7)
2007/08 CS Moulien 0-0 Pacy-sur-Eure [aet, 4-2 pen] (rd 7)
AS Red Star (Baie-Mahault) [4 entries, 1 win]
entries: 1974/75, 1979/80, 1991/92, 1993/94
won tie: 1993/94 AS Red Star 1-0 La Roche-sur-Yon VF (rd 7)
Cygne Noir (Basse-Terre) [3 entries]
entries: 1972/73, 1981/82, 1983/84
Solidarité Scolaire (Pointe-à-Pitre) [3 entries]
entries: 1986/87, 1990/91, 1999/00
AS Dragon (Gosier) [2 entries]
entries: 2001/02, 2002/03
Evolucas (Lamentin) [2 entries]
entries: 2004/05, 2008/09
Juventus (Sainte-Anne) [2 entries]
entries: 1964/65, 1973/74
La Gauloise (Basse-Terre) [1 entry, 1 win]
entry: 1978/79
won ties: 1978/79 AS Poissy 0-1 La Gauloise (rd 7)
Arsenal Club (Petit-Bourg) [1 entry]
entry: 1995/96
Equinoxe (Petit-Canal) [1 entry]
entry: 1971/72
Phare (Petit-Canal) [1 entry]
entry: 1997/98
CS Saint-François [1 entry]
entry: 1985/86
US Baie-Mahault [1 entry]
entry: 1998/99
Cup
41 entries, 11 wins
Club Franciscain [9 entries, 6 wins]
entries: 1982/83, 1992/93, 1994/95, 1996/97, 1999/00,
2000/01, 2002/03, 2003/04, 2005/06
won ties: 1982/83 Club Franciscain 2-1 Montpellier PSC (rd 7)
1992/93 Club Franciscain 2-1 FC Bourges (rd 8)
1994/95 Club Franciscain 2-1 ESA Brive (rd 7)
1996/97 Club Franciscain 2-2 FC Trélissac [aet, 4-3 pen] (rd 7)
2002/03 Club Franciscain 2-1 Olympique Noisy-le-Sec (rd 7)
2005/06 SCO Angers 0-2 Club Franciscain (rd 7)
Aiglon du Lamentin [4 entries]
entries: 1965/66, 1991/92, 2004/05, 2006/07
Golden Star (Fort-de-France) [3 entries, 1 win]
entries: 1974/75, 1975/76, 1997/98
won tie: 1974/75 Golden Star 1-1, 2-1 US Melun (rd 7)
Club Colonial (Fort-de-France) [3 entries]
entries: 1963/64, 1979/80, 1983/84
RC Rivière Pilote [3 entries]
entries: 1977/78, 1981/82, 2008/09
Samaritaine (Sainte-Marie) [2 entries, 1 win]
entries: 1976/77, 2007/08
won tie: 2007/08 Sables d'Olonne 0-1 Samaritaine
JA Trénelle (Fort-de-France) [2 entries, 1 win]
entries: 1986/87, 1988/89
won tie: 1986/87 JA Trénelle 2-1 EA Guingamp (rd 8)
Excelsior (Fort-de-France) [2 entries]
entries: 1984/85, 1990/91
CS Vauclinois [2 entries]
entries: 1968/69, 1969/70
Good Luck (Fort-de-France) [1 entry, 1 win]
entry: 1978/79
won tie: 1978/79 Good Luck 3-1 UES Montmorillon (rd 7)
Club Peléen (Morne Rouge) [1 entry, 1 win]
entry: 1980/81)
won tie: 1980/81 Club Peléen 1-0 Stade Français (rd 7)
Assaut (Saint-Pierre) [1 entry]
entry: 1985/86
CS Case Pilote [1 entry]
entry: 2001/02
Eclair (Rivière Salée) [1 entry]
entry: 1998/99
La Gauloise (Trinité) [1 entry]
entry: 1993/94
Olympique Marin [1 entry]
entry: 1973/74
RC Gros Morne [1 entry]
entry: 1987/88
Réal Tartane [1 entry]
entry: 1989/90
US Robert (Le Robert) [1 entry]
entry: 1995/96
Stade Spiritain [1 entry]
entry: 1962/63
From 1986 to 2000, clubs from Mayotte were allocated a place in the round of 32 of the Coupe de France Régionale in Reunion (from 1998 to 2000, 2 Mayotte clubs could enter). No Mayotte club ever reached the French Cup itself through this route. Since the 2001/02 season, the winners of the Coupe de France Régionale in Mayotte enter the seventh round of the French Cup directly.
Cup 8 entries Foudre 2000 [2 entries] entries: 2007/08, 2008/09 FC M'tsapere [2 entries] entries: 2001/02, 2004/05 Pamandzi SC [2 entries] entries: 2002/03, 2003/04 AS Kani-Keli [1 entry] entry: 2005/06 FCO de Tsingoni [1 entry] entry: 2006/07
From 1986 to 1997, one Mayotte club entered the 1/16 finals of the Coupe de France Régionale in Reunion, the winners of which obtaining entry in the French Cup; from 1998 to 2000, two Mayotte clubs entered the 1/16 finals of this tournament. No Mayotte club ever managed to survive more than one round; below we list all known cases of Mayotte clubs eliminating opposition from Reunion. Since the 2001/02 season, Mayotte clubs can enter the French Cup directly.
Coupe de France Régionale FC Kani-Bé won tie: 1998 SS Dynamo 1-2 FC Kani-Bé FC M'tsapéré won tie: 1995 FC M'tsapéré bt US Chaudron Miracle du Sud won tie: 2000 SS Dynamo lt Miracle du Sud
In addition to the two clubs listed below, RAC Casablanca (1954/55) and US Marocaine (1955/56) entered the 5th round (the first inter-ligue stage) once, but both were eliminated by other African clubs (RAC by FC Blida and USM by Gallia Sports Alger).
Cup
1955: 6th round: MAS Fès (0-9 vs RSO Audonien)
1956: 6th round: WAC Casablanca (1-0 aet vs RCFC Besançon)
1/32 fin.: WAC Casablanca (1-2 aet vs AS Saint Etienne)
Cup
20 entries
US Magenta [7 entries]
entries: 1994/95, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03, 2003/04,
2004/05, 2005/06
CA Saint-Louis [4 entries]
entries: 1983/84, 1986/87, 1995/96, 1996/97
JS Traput (Lifou) [3 entries]
entries: 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/00
JS Baco [1 entry]
entry: 2006/07
USL Gélima (Canala) [1 entry]
entry: 1982/83
AS Le Nickel (Nouméa) [1 entry]
entry: 1975/76
AS Lössi [1 entry]
entry: 2007/08
AS Mont-Dore [1 entry]
entry: 2008/09
JS Vallée du Tir (Nouméa) [1 entry]
entry: 1966/67
Cup
43 entries, 12 wins
CS Saint-Denis [7 entries, 1 win]
entries: 1975/76, 1980/81, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1985/86,
1987/88, 1990/91
won tie: 1975/76 CS Saint-Denis 2-1 AS Libourne (rd 7)
US Bénédictine (Saint-Benoît) [6 entries]
entries: 1965/66, 1966/67, 1968/69, 1969/70, 1972/73,
1981/82
SS Saint-Louisienne [5 entries, 4 wins]
entries: 1994/95, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1997/98, 2002/03
won ties: 1994/95 SA Epinal 1-3 SS Saint-Louisienne (rd 7)
SS Saint-Louisienne 1-1 Chamois Niortais [aet, 4-2 pen] (rd 8)
1995/96 SS Saint-Louisienne 1-0 La Roche-sur-Yon VF (rd 7)
1997/98 SS Saint-Louisienne 2-1 La Roche-sur-Yon VF (rd 7)
JS Saint-Pierroise [5 entries, 2 wins]
entries: 1964/65, 1971/72, 1976/77, 1977/78, 1989/90
won ties: 1977/78 JS Saint-Pierroise 3-1 FC Yonnais (rd 7)
1989/90 JS Saint-Pierroise 1-1 Le Mans UC 72 [aet] (rd 8)
US Stade Tamponnaise (Le Tampon) [4 entries, 1 win]
entries: 1992/93, 1998/99, 2003/04, 2006/07
won tie: 2006/07 Schiltigheim 0-7 US Stade Tamponnaise (rd 7)
SS Jeanne d'Arc (Le Port) [2 entries, 2 wins]
entries: 1999/00, 2008/09
won ties: 2008/09 Saint-Louis Neuweg 0-1 SS Jeanne d'Arc (rd 7)
SS Jeanne d'Arc 3-2 SC Feignies (rd 8)
SS Excelsior (Saint-Joseph) [2 entries]
entries: 1974/75, 2001/02
FC Ouest Savanna (Saint-Paul) [2 entries]
entries: 1984/85, 1988/89
AS Chaudron [1 entry, 1 win]
entry: 2005/06
won tie: 2005/06 AS Chaudron 2-1 Vauban Strabourg [aet] (rd 7)
US Possession [1 entry, 1 win]
entry: 1993/94
won tie: 1993/94 US Possession 2-1 SCO Roubaix [aet] (rd 7)
SS Gauloise (Bras-Panon) [1 entry]
entries: 1991/92
AS Marsouins (Saint-Leu) [1 entry]
entry: 2000/01
SS Patriote (Saint-Denis) [1 entry]
entry: 1973/74
Saint-Denis FC [1 entry]
entry: 2004/05
SS Saint-Pauloise [1 entry]
entries: 1986/87
US Saint-Joseph [1 entry]
entry: 1978/79
US Sainte-Marie [1 entry]
entry: 2007/08
USSA Léopards (Sainte-Anne) [1 entry]
entry: 1979/80
32 entries, 4 wins
AS Pirae [10 entries]
entries: 1989/90, 1990/91, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95,
1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03
AS Central Sport (Papeete) [9 entries, 2 wins]
entries: 1974/75, 1976/77, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80,
1981/82, 1982/83, 1985/86, 1988/89
won ties: 1978/79 AS Central Sport 3-0 Arago Orléans (rd 7)
1981/82 AS Central Sport 4-2 AS Béziers [aet] (rd 7)
AS Dragon [3 entries, 1 win]
entries: 1997/98, 2001/02, 2004/05
won tie: 2001/02 AS Dragon 2-1 FC Rouen (rd 7)
AS Tefana [3 entries, 1 win]
entries: 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09
won tie: 2008/09 SR Colmar 0-0 AS Tefana [aet, 2-4 pen] (rd 7)
AS Manu Ura [2 entries]
entries: 2003/04, 2005/06
AS Vénus [2 entries]
entries: 1991/92, 1995/96
JS Arue [1 entry]
entry: 1980/81
AS Jeunes Tahitiens (Papeete) [1 entry]
entry: 1987/88
AS Postes (Papeete) [1 entry]
entry: 1984/85
In addition to the two clubs listed below, Stade Tunisien (1955/56) entered the 5th round (the first inter-ligue stage) once, but they were eliminated by another African club (SC Bel-Abbès).
Cup 1955: 6th round: CS Hammam Lif (1-3 vs Havre AC) 1956: 6th round: Espérance ST (2-2, 0-4 vs RSO Audonien)
Angola | Cape Verde | Guinea Bissau | Mozambique
Between 1957 and independence, the Portuguese colonies in Africa were represented in the Portuguese Cup. This started in the 1957/58 season, when the champions of Angola and Mozambique entered an 'extra' semifinal against the winners (Benfica and Porto) of the cup semifinals in Portugal itself. Both lost heavily, but from then on clubs from the colonies had places reserved for them in the later stages of the Portuguese domestic cup (the quarterfinals from 1958/59 to 1966/67, the round of 16 from 1967/68 to 1970/71 and the round of 32 from 1971/72 until independence in the mid-seventies). Only once, a club from the colonies, Independente from Porto Alexandre (currently Tômbwa) in Angola managed to eliminate a team from Portugal itself.
In 1957/58, clubs from Angola and Mozambique obtained spots in an 'extra semifinal' round of the Portuguese cup, playing against the winners of the 'proper' semifinals, Porto and Benfica. Starting from 1958/59, one spot in the quarterfinals of the Portuguese cup was reserved for a representative from Mozambique (presumably after a playoff against an Angolan club, but the Mozambican clubs seem to have qualified each time). Starting from 1967/68, one spot in the round of 16 (1/8 finals) of the Portuguese cup was reserved for a representative from Angola. In the 1970/71 edition, Independente won their first tie, 1-0 against União Coimbra. This is the only ever success in a Portuguese cup tie by any team from Portugal's former African colonies. From 1971/72 on, Angolan teams entered one round earlier, in the round of 32 (1/16 finals). Angolan clubs, like those from the other African colonies, did not enter anymore after the 1973/74 season (places were still reserved for them in the following two seasons).
City name correspondences: colonial current Nova Lisboa Huambo Porto Alexandre Tômbwa Cup 1958: semifinal: Ferroviário Luanda (2-6, 1-11 vs Benfica) 1968: Angola did not enter club 1969: 1/8 final: Atlético Luanda (0-4, 2-3 vs Benfica) 1970: 1/8 final: Independente P.A. (0-4, 1-5 vs União Tomar) 1971: quarterf.: Independente P.A. (0-6, 0-2 vs Benfica) 1972: 1/16 fin.: Independente P.A. (1-2 vs Tirsense) 1973: 1/16 fin.: Benfica Nova Lisboa (1-2 vs Atlético Lisboa) 1974: 1/16 fin.: FC do Moxico Luena (0-6 vs CUF Barreiro) NB: P.A. = Porto Alexandre
Starting from 1970/71, one spot in the round of 16 (1/8 finals) of the Portuguese cup was reserved for (apparently) the winners of a playoff between a representative from Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) and one from Guinea Bissau. Possibly such a playoff regulation had existed before, but only in 1970/71 a club from Cape Verde made it into the main tournament, and immediately suffered the record defeat by any club from Portugal's former African colonies, which did not enter anymore after the 1973/74 season (places were still reserved for them in the following two seasons).
Cup 1971: 1/8 final: Mindelense (0-21 vs Sporting)
Starting from 1964/65, one spot in the round of 16 (1/8 finals) of the Portuguese cup was reserved for a representative from Guinea Bissau (Guiné Bissau). From 1970/71 (but possibly already before), the representatives of Guinea Bissau apparently first had to play off against a club from Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) for this spot (only in 1970/71, Guinea Bissau did not qualify). From 1971/72 on, this club entered one round earlier, in the round of 32 (1/16 finals). One club from the region won a match, a 1-0 win by Tenis over Braga in the return leg of their 1/8 final tie in 1969/70, after suffering a 0-3 defeat in the first leg. It was the first ever win from a club from Portugal's former African colonies, which did not enter anymore after the 1973/74 season (places were still reserved for them in the following two seasons).
Cup 1965: 1/8 final: União Bissau (0-4, 2-3 vs Olhanense) 1966: Guinea Bissau did not enter club 1967: 1/8 final: Tenis Bissau (0-6, 3-5 vs Beira-Mar) 1968: Guinea Bissau did not enter club 1969: 1/8 final: União Bissau (1-5, 0-12 vs Sporting) 1970: 1/8 final: Tenis Bissau (0-3, 1-0 vs Braga) 1972: 1/16 fin.: Sporting Clube Bissau (0-2 vs Sintrense) 1973: 1/16 fin.: União Bissau (0-6 vs Farense) 1974: 1/16 fin.: Sporting Clube Bissau (0-1 vs Oriental Lisboa)
In 1957/58, clubs from Angola and Mozambique (Moçambique) obtained spots in an 'extra semifinal' round of the Portuguese cup, playing against the winners of the 'proper' semifinals, Porto and Benfica. Starting from 1958/59, one spot in the quarterfinals of the Portuguese cup was reserved for a representative from Mozambique (presumably after a playoff against an Angolan club, but the Mozambican clubs seem to have qualified each time); another was reserved for a club from the Azores (Açores), which are still part of Portugal, and whose clubs have meanwhile gained access to Portugal's top division. From 1964/65 on, the Mozambican club entered one round earlier, in the round of 16 (1/8 finals); from 1971/72 on, in the round of 32 (1/16 finals). In total, Mozambican clubs played 22 matches in the Portuguese cup, more than those from any other of Portugal's former African colonies (which did not enter anymore after the 1973/74 season, although places were still reserved for them in the following two seasons), and managed only one draw (after losing the first leg of the tie), and that not against a club from the mainland but a representative from the Azores.
City name correspondences: colonial current Lourenço Marques Maputo Vila Pery Chimoio Cup 1958: semifinal: Desportivo L.Marques (2-6, 1-9 vs Porto) 1959: quarterf.: Ferroviário L.Marques (0-9, 0-7 vs Porto) 1960: quarterf.: Sporting Nampula(?) (0-6, 0-3 vs Belenenses) 1961: quarterf.: Sporting L.Marques (1-4, 1-4 vs Belenenses) 1962: quarterf.: Ferroviário L.Marques (1-7, 1-7 vs Benfica) 1963: quarterf.: Sporting L.Marques (1-3, 1-4 vs Sporting) 1964: quarterf.: Ferroviário L.Marques (1-3, 2-2 vs Lusitânia (Açores)) 1965: Mozambique did not enter club 1966: Mozambique did not enter club 1967: Mozambique did not enter club 1968: Mozambique did not enter club 1969: 1/8 final: Ferroviário L.Marques (1-4, 0-1 vs Académica Coimbra) 1970: 1/8 final: Textafrica Vila Pery (2-6, 0-3 vs Belenenses) 1971: 1/8 final: Ferroviário L.Marques (1-4 vs Porto) 1972: 1/16 fin.: Textafrica Vila Pery (1-3 vs Leixões) 1973: 1/16 fin.: Ferroviário L.Marques (1-3 vs CUF Barreiro) 1974: 1/16 fin.: Textafrica Vila Pery (0-1 vs Atlético Lisboa)
The northernmost regions of the current Morocco were a Spanish protectorate until 1956, when it merged with the French Protectorate to found the Kingdom of Morocco. Note that the clubs from the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which still belong to Spain, are not included here.
Apart from the one-season appearance of Atlético Tetuán in the Primera División, who also once reached the quarterfinals of the Spanish cup, two other clubs from the region played at the second Spanish level: UD España from Tánger (3 seasons, from 1953/54 to 1955/56, with their best finish 4th in the southern group 1954/55) and EHA Tánger (in 1939/40 only); in 1956, UD España merged into UD España de Algeciras, while Atlético Tetuán split into a Moroccan side (Moghreb Tétouan) and a Spanish one (merging with SD Ceuta into Atlético Ceuta). Atlético Tetuán had first reached the second level in 1949, and gained promotion to the top flight in their second ever season in the Segunda División; after their immediately relegation back to the second level, they twice reached the promotion/relegation playoffs, in 1953 and 1955, but failed to return (by only 1 point in 1953).
Other clubs from the region to have featured in the third tier Tercera División (distributed into a varying number of regional groups) include: Patronato Deportivo Larache (renamed Larache CF in 1947) from the town currently called El-Araïch, who played at the third level for 10 seasons (from 1945/46 to 1951/52 and from 1953/54 to 1955/56), Español de Tetuán (6 seasons from 1950/51 to 1955/56), UD Sevillana de Tánger (also known as Unión Tangerina; 4 seasons from 1952/53 to 1955/56), Maghreb Aksa (3 seasons from 1949/50 to 1951/52, when like Larache CF they withdrew during the seasons; their home town is not clear), SD Villa Nador, CD Alcázar de Alcazarquivir, UD Pescadores Villasanjurjo (all 2 seasons 1954/55 and 1955/56; Alcazarquivir is nowadays known as Qsar al-Kabir (or Ksar-el-Kebir) and Villasanjurjo (or Villa Sanjurjo) as Al-Hoceima) and Alcazaba de Tánger (in 1955/56 only). It is not known whether any of these clubs bear any relationship with current Moroccan clubs from the corresponding towns.
Nothing is known about clubs from Sidi Ifni playing within the Spanish football structure.
Championship Atlético Tetuán (1 top level season) 1951/52 16.Atlético Tetuán 30 7 5 18 51-85 19 Cup 1943: 1/16 fin.: Atlético Tetuán (3-1, 0-3 vs Betis) 1951: quarterf.: Atlético Tetuán (1-3, 1-4 vs Barcelona)
The Soviet Union 'inherited' most of its territory from the old Russian Empire, as assembled by the tsars. There were not many football competitions in this Empire extending beyond city boundaries, but in 1912 and 1913, national championships for city selections were played which involved a number of Ukrainian teams as well as a Polish one (which withdrew without playing). Odessa (Odesa in Ukrainian) even won the 1913 final but had their title taken away from them for playing with 4 foreigners (rather than the allowed 3); the title was not awarded. Note that the tournament was played in knock-out style.
Łódź entered the northern group of the 1913 city championship, which had 4 participants; they withdrew before playing their first round match against Sankt Peterburg.
City Selection Championship 1913: quarterf.: Łódź (forfeit vs Sankt Peterburg)
Various Ukrainian cities entered the 1912 and 1913 Russian championships for city selections. Odessa (Odesa in Ukrainian) even won the 1913 final but had their title taken away from them for playing with 4 foreigners (rather than the allowed 3); the title was not awarded. Note that the tournament was played in knock-out style. The 1913 championship was split in a northern and a southern group, whose winners met in the final; all 7 Ukrainian participants played in the southern group (together with Rostov, who lost 1-5 to Yusovka (currently Donetsk) in the first round).
City Selection Championship
1912: semifinal: Odessa (withdrew)
1912: quarterf.: Kiev (forfeit vs Sankt Peterburg)
1912: quarterf.: Kharkov (1-6 vs Moskva)
1913: finalists: Odessa (4-2 vs Sankt Peterburg)
NB: title not awarded as Odessa fielded too many foreigners
1913: semifinal: Kharkov (0-2 vs Odessa)
1913: quarterf.: Kherson (0-10 vs Odessa)
1913: quarterf.: Yusovka (1-2 vs Kharkov)
1913: 1/8 final: Nikolaev (2-3 vs Odessa)
1913: 1/8 final: Kiev (forfeit vs Kharkov)
1913: 1/8 final: Sevastopol (forfeit vs Kherson)
Ireland | Cyprus | Germany | Soviet Union | Georgia | Czechoslovakia | Romania | Yugoslavia | South Africa | Tanzania | Pakistan | Malaysia | Korea | Vietnam | Yemen | United Arab Republic | British Palestine | Comoros | Netherlands Antilles | additional remarks on Africa
Over the years, many countries in the world have split into various parts, while others have manage to merge or reunify. The sudden changes in the map of Europe following the collapse of communist rule were probably the most spectacular, but various other examples exist in other areas and eras.
A case not included in this section is that of the Habsburg Empire, which disintegrated as a consequence of the First World War. The reason is that in footballing terms, the structure contained two countries: Austria and Hungary, who both obtained FIFA membership upon its creation. (The desire of the third main entity, Bohemia, which politically fell under Austria, to obtain independent FIFA membership led to the first major political problems within the new organisation.) The corresponding changes to the Austrian and Hungarian football structures are therefore included in the section on border moves (see Austria and Hungary).
The first two cases discussed here are islands messed up under British rule (a curse from which also Palestine and the Indian subcontinent did not recover).
Up to and including the 1919/20 season, the Irish football
competition (organised by the IFA, the Irish FA) theoretically
encompassed the entire island, though the league was dominated
by Belfast clubs. After an independence declaration in 1919,
the Irish Free State was officially recognised as a separate
British dominion in 1922; only in 1949 the United Kingdom
recognised the independence of the Irish Republic declared
at the end of 1948. In 1920, Bohemians (who had just been relegated)
and Shelbourne left the IFA league (as did Belfast Celtic) due to
political unrest. Bohemians and Shelbourne entered the regional
Leinster League before joining the newly founded FA of Ireland and
its competitions in 1921.
Three Dublin clubs played at the top level prior to 1920, and 4 cup
tournaments were won by Dublin clubs, 3 by Shelbourne and 1 by
Bohemians; 2 finals were all-Dublin affairs.
Note that in this section only the period until 1920 is discussed, and not the adventures of Derry City half a century later; for those see the section on roving clubs (which also includes a note on Belfast junior club side Alton United).
Also note that we do not separately discuss the fortunes of clubs from Belfast and other towns currently in 'Northern Ireland' within the all-Irish structure prior to 1920, as they clearly dominated proceedings and the organising football association (the Irish FA, as opposed to the FA of Ireland for the current republic) remained the same; FIFA (and UEFA, who were founded well after the Irish split) follow the same procedure, although that argument is not decisive here (see e.g. the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia).
Championship
Note: from 1915/16 to 1918/19 no official competition was organised;
a war-time championship not involving Dublin sides did take place.
Three Dublin clubs played at the highest league level prior to 1921:
Bohemians (13 top level seasons)
1902/03 7.Bohemians 14 3 3 8 22-36 9
1903/04 6.Bohemians 14 4 3 7 24-33 11
1904/05 8.Bohemians 14 2 2 10 15-26 6
1905/06 5.Bohemians 14 5 2 7 17-20 12
1906/07 5.Bohemians 14 4 5 5 19-22 13
1907/08 8.Bohemians 14 2 2 10 13-31 6
1908/09 5.Bohemians 12 6 1 5 27-24 13
1909/10 6.Bohemians 14 4 3 7 20-31 11
1910/11 8.Bohemians 14 1 4 9 14-25 6
1912/13 6.Bohemians 18 8 2 8 31-28 18
1913/14 7.Bohemians 14 2 2 10 19-36 6
1914/15 8.Bohemians 14 0 1 13 10-45 1
1919/20 8.Bohemians 14 2 2 10 7-38 6
Shelbourne (12 top level seasons)
1904/05 6.Shelbourne 14 5 3 6 15-17 13
1905/06 6.Shelbourne 14 5 2 7 16-18 12
1906/07 2.Shelbourne 14 8 3 3 27-21 19
1907/08 5.Shelbourne 14 6 2 6 22-17 14
1908/09 3.Shelbourne 14 7 0 7 20-20 14
1909/10 8.Shelbourne 14 2 7 5 15-24 11
1910/11 6.Shelbourne 14 3 4 7 15-31 10
1911/12 6.Shelbourne 14 2 3 9 12-33 7
1912/13 8.Shelbourne 18 7 4 7 20-23 18
1913/14 5.Shelbourne 14 6 2 6 16-10 14
1914/15 5.Shelbourne 14 6 3 5 17-12 15
1919/20 4.Shelbourne 14 3 7 4 16-21 13
Tritonville (1 top level season)
1912/13 10.Tritonville 18 2 1 15 27-55 5
Cup
NB: unless stated otherwise, all clubs based in the current Republic
of Ireland were from Dublin; Black Watch Regiment and Sherwood
Foresters were British military teams without roots in the local
community.
1886: semifinal: Dublin University (0-4 vs Distillery)
1890: semifinal: Dublin Association (2-3 vs Cliftonville)
1892: finalists: Black Watch Regiment (0-7 vs Linfield)
NB: Black Watch Regiment were based in Limerick
1895: finalists: Bohemians (1-10 vs Linfield)
1897: finalists: Sherwood Foresters (1-3 vs Cliftonville)
NB: Sherwood Foresters were based in Kildare
1898: semifinal: Bohemians (0-1 vs St. Columbia's Hall Celtic)
1899: semifinal: Bohemians (2-4 vs Linfield)
1900: finalists: Bohemians (1-2 vs Cliftonville)
1901: finalists: Freebooters (0-1 vs Cliftonville)
1902: semifinal: Bohemians (0-2 vs Linfield)
semifinal: Richmond Rovers (3-5 vs Distillery)
1903: finalists: Bohemians (1-3 vs Distillery)
1905: finalists: Shelbourne (0-3 vs Distillery)
1906: winners: Shelbourne (2-0 vs Belfast Celtic)
semifinal: Bohemians (0-2 vs Belfast Celtic)
1907: finalists: Shelbourne (0-0, 0-1 vs Cliftonville)
1908: winners: Bohemians (0-0, 3-1 vs Shelbourne)
finalists: Shelbourne (0-0, 1-3 vs Bohemians)
1909: finalists: Bohemians (0-0, 1-2 vs Cliftonville)
1910: semifinal: Bohemians (0-3 vs Cliftonville)
1911: winners: Shelbourne (2-1 vs Bohemians)
finalists: Bohemians (1-2 vs Shelbourne)
1912: semifinal: Shelbourne (withdrew)
NB: three semifinalists, including Shelbourne, withdrew from
the IFA, leaving Linfield as only remaining participants
(and thereby winners by default)
1913: semifinal: Tritonville (1-4 vs Linfield)
1914: semifinal: Shelbourne (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-2 vs Glentoran)
1915: semifinal: Shelbourne (0-0, 0-1 vs Belfast Celtic)
1916: semifinal: Bohemians (2-4 vs Glentoran)
1917: semifinal: Bohemians (2-4 vs Belfast Celtic)
1919: semifinal: Shelbourne (0-0 aet, 1-2 vs Linfield)
1920: winners: Shelbourne (walkover)
NB: the semifinal replay between Belfast Celtic and Glentoran
was abandoned after 70 minutes following crowd disturbances
including Celtic fans firing into the Glentoran followers,
injuring some; Celtic were disqualified, but after their
protest on an ineligible player (in fact the goal keeper)
of Glentoran, so were their opponents and Shelbourne won
the cup final by walkover.
City Cup
This was a league style tournament, first held in 1892/93, whose matches
were mostly played in Belfast, though teams from Londonderry and Dublin
were admitted starting from the 1905/06 season. Shelbourne and Bohemians
both participated in various seasons, with one notable success:
1908/09 1.Shelbourne 10 7 1 2 22-13 15
The island was de facto split between a Greek and a Turkish part after the 1974 invasion by Turkish troops, but problems between the two ethnic groups went back a long time and had already led to the withdrawal of Turkish side Çetin Kaya in 1955 (and the abandonment or cancellation of various championships in the two decades in between). Çetin Kaya, known as LTSK until 1951, had been a successful club in the early fifties, winning one championship, appearing in three consecutive cup finals (of which they won two), and winning three of the first four Super Cups organised on the island. Since 1955 they play in a separate league for Turkish clubs, from which they have never been relegated; they are both its record champions (12 titles up to and including 2008) and cup winners (16 trophies).
Note that we do not separately discuss the fortunes of the clubs of the internationally recognised part of the island in the all-Cypriot structure (due to their dominance before the split in the 1950s and the fact that the football association remained the same), and keep in mind that some of the currently 'Greek' Cypriot clubs were based in towns now in Northern Cyprus; these were forced to move to new homes after the Turkish invasion. Some of the clubs involved were Anorthosis from Ammóchostos/Gazimağusa, Nea Salamina from Salamís (near Ammóchostos) and ASIL from Lysi/Akdoğan, who all moved to Lárnaka/Larnaka, Digenis who moved from Mórfou/Güzelyurt to Lemesós/Leymosun, Doxa who moved from Katokopia/Zümrütköy to nearby Peristeróna and Ethnikos Ashias who moved from Ashia/Paşaköy to Stróvolos (the largest municipality of the capital Lefkosía/Lefkoşa). Likewise various 'Turkish' clubs originally were based in the southern part of the island: Türk Ocağı Limasol moved from Leymosun/Lemesós to Girne/Kerýnia, Çanakkale from Çanakkale/Kandou to Gazimağusa/Ammóchostos and Yalova from Yalova/Episkopi to Yeni Bostancı/Pano Zodhia.
The champions of 'Greek' Cyprus were invited to compete for a season in the Greek league during the military dictatorship in Greece.
LTSK (renamed Çetin Kaya in 1951) played in all official editions of the Cypriot championship between 1934/35 (the first ever such edition) and 1954/55, after having entered the unofficial 1933/34 edition as well. They became one of the powerhouses of Cypriot football in the first half of the fifties, before withdrawing to a separate Turkish league in the wake of the guerrilla actions (directed against British rule) by the Greek EOKA. Other Turkish clubs to have played in the Cypriot Cup until 1955 are Demirspor, Doğan Birliği, Gençlik Gücü and Turkish Aviation.
Championship
LTSK/Çetin Kaya
top-4 finishes (in 18 top level seasons - all between 1934 and 1955)
1934/35 2.LTSK 13 6 4 3 31-12 16
1935/36 3.LTSK 14 9 1 4 28-21 19
1936/37 3.LTSK 12 5 5 2 29-16 15
1937/38 3.LTSK 4 2 1 1 8-10 5
1950/51 1.Çetin Kaya 14 8 4 2 36-26 20
1951/52 3.Çetin Kaya 14 8 1 5 31-25 17
1952/53 4.Çetin Kaya 14 6 3 5 27-23 15
1953/54 4.Çetin Kaya 16 7 3 6 28-26 17
1954/55 4.Çetin Kaya 18 8 4 6 30-24 20
Cup
1935: semifinal: LTSK (0-1 vs APOEL)
1936: finalists: LTSK (1-4 vs Trast)
1937: semifinal: LTSK (1-3 vs APOEL)
1939: semifinal: LTSK (0-2 vs AEL)
1940: semifinal: LTSK (2-5 vs Pezoporikos)
1945: quarterf.: LTSK (0-1 vs AEL)
1946: quarterf.: LTSK (0-9 vs APOEL)
1947: quarterf.: LTSK (0-3 vs Anorthosis)
1948: semifinal: LTSK (1-8 vs APOEL)
1949: semifinal: LTSK (1-5 vs Anorthosis)
1950: semifinal: LTSK (1-3 vs EPA)
1951: quarterf.: Çetin Kaya (2-5 vs EPA)
1952: winners: Çetin Kaya (4-1 vs Pezoporikos)
1953: finalists: Çetin Kaya (1-2 vs EPA)
1954: winners: Çetin Kaya (2-1 vs Pezoporikos)
quarterf.: Demirspor (5-8 vs Salamina)
1955: semifinal: Çetin Kaya (1-4 vs Pezoporikos)
Super Cup
1951: winners: Çetin Kaya (5-1 vs APOEL)
1952: winners: Çetin Kaya (2-1 vs APOEL)
1954: winners: Çetin Kaya (2-1 vs Pezoporikos)
The shape of Germany underwent many changes since the invention of football and the foundation of the DFB, last on October 3, 1990, when the German Democratic Republic (to which we will refer as East Germany below) joined the Federal Republic of Germany (we will use West Germany to describe the area of which this entity consisted from 1957 (when the Saarland, to be referred to as Saar hereafter, joined the Federal Republic; the area had been under French occupation and then sovereignty since the end of World War II) until 1990); we take West Germany to include West-Berlin although formally it had a special status (see also below).
We here look at some clubs from the Saar and East Germany who made an impact in (West) Germany since joining it, or in German football history prior to World War II. We will not separately look at the performances of clubs from West Germany in the current Germany or the pre-WWII one, as the football federation (DFB) has been the same in all three entities, in spite of its varying borders.
A special case is that of Berlin. After World War II, the city was split in 4 zones (as was the rest of the country), controlled by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union respectively. A regional league (the Oberliga Berlin, technically one of the many regional top level leagues in the country) started in 1946 encompassing clubs from the entire city, and when a national championship was first organised after the war in the summer of 1948, the Berlin champions, Union Oberschöneweide, who resided in the Soviet zone of the city, also entered, losing 0-7 at home to FC Sankt Pauli in the quarterfinals. Note that the 1947/48 champions of the Ostzone, SG Planitz, who had been drawn to play 1.FC Nürnberg in the quarterfinals, forfeited the match for political reasons, although the formal establishment of the German Democratic Republic did not happen until October 1949.
This situation continued until the summer of 1950, when the clubs residing in the Soviet section of the city (corresponding to what became known as Ost-Berlin) were forced to enter the East German league structure. This included two clubs (Union Oberschöneweide and VfB Pankow) which had played in the all-Berlin top level of 1949/50, and one (SC Lichtenberg 47, formerly Lichtenberg-Nord) which had just been promoted to the Oberliga, in which they had earlier played for two seasons, for 1950/51. These three clubs all entered the top level of East Germany (Oberliga der demokratischen Sportbewegung) in 1950/51 and finished 15th (Oberschöneweide), 17th (Pankow) and 18th (Lichtenberg) among the 18 clubs. Union Oberschöneweide had been weakened by the loss of their best players: as Berlin runners-up they had qualified for the first round of the (West) German championship playoff but the East German sports authorities forbade them the trip to Kiel, where they were to face Hamburger SV. The players went anyway, and remained in West Germany after the match, founding a new club, SC Union 06 Berlin, which kept the place in the Oberliga of West-Berlin, which they won again in 1952/53 after being runners-up in 1950/51 and 1951/52. The performances of clubs from Ost-Berlin in the Oberliga Berlin 1946-1950 are listed as a special case under the East German section.
Championship (Deutsche Meisterschaft) 1903: winners: VfB Leipzig (7-2 vs DFC Prag) 1906: winners: VfB Leipzig (2-1 vs 1.FC Pforzheim) 1911: finalists: VfB Leipzig (1-3 vs Viktoria 89 Berlin) 1914: finalists: VfB Leipzig (2-3 vs SpVgg Fürth) 1923: finalists: Union Oberschöneweide (0-3 vs Hamburger SV) 1940: finalists: Dresdner SC (0-1 vs Schalke 04) 1943: winners: Dresdner SC (3-0 vs FV Saarbrücken) 1944: winners: Dresdner SC (4-0 vs LSV Groß Hamburg) Championship (Oberliga Berlin 1946-1950) Four clubs from Ost-Berlin played in the Oberliga Berlin between 1946 and 1950: Union Oberschöneweide (3 top level seasons) 1947/48 1.Union Oberschöneweide 22 16 3 3 68-21 35 1948: quarterf.: Union Oberschöneweide (0-7 vs FC Sankt Pauli) 1948/49 3.Union Oberschöneweide 22 13 5 4 52-28 31 1949/50 2.Union Oberschöneweide 22 15 2 5 69-31 32 1950: 1/8 final: Union Oberschöneweide (0-7 vs Hamburger SV) VfB Pankow (3 top level seasons) 1947/48 8.VfB Pankow 22 7 6 9 26-35 20 1948/49 7.VfB Pankow 22 5 8 9 34-47 18 1949/50 8.VfB Pankow 22 8 2 12 32-51 18 SG Köpenick (3 top level seasons) 1946/47 8.SG Köpenick 22 8 4 10 46-41 20 1947/48 9.SG Köpenick 22 6 5 11 36-58 17 1948/49 10.SG Köpenick 22 5 5 12 32-41 15 SG Lichtenberg-Nord/SC Lichtenberg 47 (2 top level seasons) 1946/47 10.SG Lichtenberg-Nord 22 8 3 11 46-51 19 1948/49 12.SC Lichtenberg 47 22 4 1 17 17-55 9 Championship (Bundesliga) Four East German clubs played in the Bundesliga since 1990: Hansa Rostock (12 top level seasons) 1991/92 18.Hansa Rostock 38 10 11 17 43-55 31 1995/96 6.Hansa Rostock 34 13 10 11 47-43 49 1996/97 14.Hansa Rostock 34 11 7 16 35-46 40 1997/98 6.Hansa Rostock 34 14 9 11 54-46 51 1998/99 13.Hansa Rostock 34 9 11 14 49-58 38 1999/00 15.Hansa Rostock 34 8 14 12 44-60 38 2000/01 12.Hansa Rostock 34 12 7 15 34-47 43 2001/02 14.Hansa Rostock 34 9 7 18 35-54 34 2002/03 13.Hansa Rostock 34 11 8 15 35-41 41 2003/04 9.Hansa Rostock 34 12 8 14 55-54 44 2004/05 17.Hansa Rostock 34 7 9 18 31-65 30 2007/08 17.FC Hansa Rostock 34 8 6 20 30-52 30 Energie Cottbus (6 top level seasons) 2000/01 14.Energie Cottbus 34 12 3 19 38-52 39 2001/02 13.Energie Cottbus 34 9 8 17 36-60 35 2002/03 18.Energie Cottbus 34 7 9 18 34-64 30 2006/07 13.Energie Cottbus 34 11 8 15 38-49 41 2007/08 14.Energie Cottbus 34 9 9 16 35-56 36 2008/09 running Dynamo Dresden (4 top level seasons) 1991/92 14.Dynamo Dresden 38 12 10 16 34-50 34 1992/93 15.Dynamo Dresden 34 7 13 14 32-49 27 1993/94 12.Dynamo Dresden 34 10 14 10 33-44 34 1994/95 18.Dynamo Dresden 34 4 8 22 33-68 16 VfB Leipzig (1 top level season) 1993/94 18.VfB Leipzig 34 3 11 20 32-69 17 Cup (von-Tschammer-Pokal) 1936: winners: VfB Leipzig (2-1 vs Schalke 04) 1937: semifinal: Dresdner SC (2-5 vs Fortuna Düsseldorf) 1940: winners: Dresdner SC (2-1 aet vs 1.FC Nürnberg) 1941: winners: Dresdner SC (2-1 vs Schalke 04) 1943: semifinal: Dresdner SC (1-2 vs LSV Groß Hamburg) Cup (DFB-Pokal) 1993: semifinal: Chemnitzer FC (1-2 vs Hertha BSC Amateure) 1994: semifinal: Dynamo Dresden (0-2 vs Werder Bremen) 1997: finalists: Energie Cottbus (0-2 vs VfB Stuttgart) 2000: semifinal: Hansa Rostock (2-3 vs Bayern München) 2001: finalists: Union Berlin (0-2 vs Schalke 04) 2008: semifinal: Carl Zeiss Jena (0-3 vs Borussia Dortmund)Some remarks on the clubs involved: the VfB Leipzig winning two German championships and losing two more finals before the second World War was dissolved in 1945; a new club called SG Probstheida was founded in their place, but there is no continuity between the 'old' VfB Leipzig and the team of the same name who played one season in the German Bundesliga; that 'new' version originated from East German powerhouse Lokomotive Leipzig, who never won the league championship but claimed 5 East German cups and were losing finalists (to Ajax) in the 1986/87 Cup Winners' Cup.
Championship (Deutsche Meisterschaft/Bundesliga) 1943: finalists: FV Saarbrücken (0-3 vs Dresdner SC) 1952: finalists: 1.FC Saarbrücken (2-3 vs VfB Stuttgart) Three Saar clubs played in the Bundesliga since 1963: 1.FC Saarbrücken (5 top level seasons) 1963/64 16.1.FC Saarbrücken 30 6 5 19 44-72 17 1976/77 14.1.FC Saarbrücken 34 9 11 14 43-55 29 1977/78 17.1.FC Saarbrücken 34 6 10 18 39-70 22 1985/86 17.1.FC Saarbrücken 34 6 9 19 39-68 21 1992/93 18.1.FC Saarbrücken 34 5 13 16 37-71 23 Borussia Neunkirchen (3 top level seasons) 1964/65 10.Borussia Neunkirchen 30 9 9 12 44-48 27 1965/66 17.Borussia Neunkirchen 34 9 4 21 32-82 22 1967/68 17.Borussia Neunkirchen 34 7 5 22 33-93 19 FC Homburg/Saar (3 top level seasons) 1986/87 16.FC Homburg 34 6 9 19 33-79 21 1987/88 17.FC Homburg 34 7 10 17 37-70 24 1989/90 18.FC Homburg 34 8 8 18 33-51 24 Cup (DFB-Pokal) 1957: semifinal: 1.FC Saarbrücken (1-3 aet vs Bayern München) 1958: semifinal: 1.FC Saarbrücken (1-4 vs VfB Stuttgart) 1959: finalists: Borussia Neunkirchen (2-5 vs Schwarz-Weiß Essen) 1985: semifinal: 1.FC Saarbrücken (0-1 vs Bayer Uerdingen)Some remarks on the clubs involved: Borussia Neunkirchen played in the Ehrenliga, the independent Saar championship held for three seasons from 1948/49 to 1950/51, and won it in the first of those seasons (then still as VfB Neunkirchen). FC Homburg also played there all three seasons, but never finished higher than third (in 1948/49). 1.FC Saarbrücken only entered their reserve side (who won it 1950/51), preferring to play in the French second division as guest team (1948/49), albeit hors concours (they would have won the division had their matches counted); when their request to enter that league on a regular basis in 1949/50 was eventually rejected, they organised the Saarland-Pokal, an international club tournament, for two seasons before the Saar clubs were allowed to re-enter the Oberliga Südwest, where they had already played from 1945/46 to 1947/48, in 1951/52. In that season, 1.FC Saarbrücken reached the final of the West German championship (though Saarbrücken did not belong to West Germany at the time).
Armenia | Azerbaijan | Belarus | Estonia | Georgia | Kazakhstan | Kyrgyzstan | Latvia | Lithuania | Moldova | Russia | Tajikistan | Turkmenistan | Ukraine | Uzbekistan
FIFA and UEFA may see Russia as the natural successors of the former Soviet Union, but we consider it as just one of the 15 countries to have been (re-)established after the breakdown in the early nineties. Certainly, Russia contributed most of the population and geographical area, and also most of the strongest football clubs, and until 1960 all league titles went to Moscow, but by the time the union broke down, the record champions were Dynamo Kiev from Ukraine and 20 of 54 championships as well as 20 of 51 cups had gone outside of the current Russian borders (16 of each to the Ukraine). Moreover, all 4 European trophies (3 Cup Winners Cups and 1 Super Cup) won by Soviet teams were contributed by non-Russian clubs. Should the city of Moscow ever decide to go its own way in football, there would be far more justification in considering it the natural successor of Russia (in football terms) than to do so now for Russia w.r.t. the Soviet Union. Over the last three decades (1961-1990) of the country's existence, Ukrainian clubs were far more successful, winning more than half of the league titles and half of the Soviet cups on offer.
Until 1956, there was a sixteenth Soviet Socialist Republic, the Karelo-Finnish SSR, which comprised some areas annexed from Finland during the second World War (the Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia). It was relegated to an ASSR (autonomous SSR) within Russia (as Karelian ASSR) in 1956 (and thereby lost its constitutional secession right). See the section on moving countries for information on clubs from Vyborg/Viipuri (on the Karelian Isthmus) and Sortavala (on Lake Ladoga) playing in the Finnish league structure.
Another former ASSR is that of Abkhazia, which lies within the internationally recognised borders of Georgia (but also borders the Black Sea and Russia). This region has claimed independence and organises its own championship since 1994; see the separate section on the (de facto) split of Georgia.
Due to the dominance of Russia and the Ukraine, we do not treat those two republics 'equally' with the 13 others; while for the smaller ones we indicate all clubs to ever reach the Soviet top flight or cup semifinals, for Russia and Ukraine we only summarise the winners of Soviet honours (as well as their palmares after disintegration).
The states resulting from the breakdown are listed in (English) alphabetical order (like in all comparable situations in this document). For additional data, see also Former Soviet Union - Regional Analysis.
Note that the former Russian Empire, whose territory the Soviet Union roughly inherited after the 1917-1922 Civil War, organised two championships for city selections in 1912 and 1913, which involved cities from Poland and the Ukraine.
Only one Armenian club, Ararat Yerevan, reached the top flight of Soviet football (albeit under different names: they were known as Dynamo and as Spartak for part of their history). Their best period was the first half of the seventies, with as highlight winning the league-and-cup double in 1973. They also were runners-up twice and won a second cup in 1975. Since the split, Ararat won one Armenian championship (1993) and five cups (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2008; they also lost the 2001 and 2007 finals), having ceded their status as the country's first club to Pyunik around the turn of the millennium.
Note that Nagorno-Karabakh, an independent region within the Azerbaijani SSR during Soviet times, is de facto independent, and clubs originating from its main city Stepanakert currently play in the Armenian league (hosting their matches outside of Nagorno-Karabakh though); nevertheless, the region is within the internationally recognised borders of Azerbaijan, though controlled by Armenia.
Championship
Ararat Yerevan
Top-5 finishes (in 33 top level seasons)
1971 2.Ararat Yerevan 30 13 11 6 37-28 37
1972 4.Ararat Yerevan 30 12 10 8 38-29 34
1973 1.Ararat Yerevan 30 18 7 5 79-55 39 [-4]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with only
the shootout winners obtaining a point.
1974 5.Ararat Yerevan 30 11 10 9 37-28 32
1975 5.Ararat Yerevan 30 15 4 11 40-38 34
1976 spr 2.Ararat Yerevan 15 8 3 4 22-13 19
1982 5.Ararat Yerevan 34 14 10 10 50-47 38
Cup
1954: finalists: Spartak Yerevan (1-2 vs Dynamo Kiev)
1962: semifinal: Spartak Yerevan (0-1 vs Znamya Truda Orekhovo-Zuyevo)
1973: winners: Ararat Yerevan (2-1 vs Dynamo Kiev)
1975: winners: Ararat Yerevan (2-1 vs Zarya Voroshilovgrad)
1976: finalists: Ararat Yerevan (0-3 vs Dynamo Tbilisi)
1991: semifinal: Ararat Yerevan (0-0, 6-7 pen vs Torpedo Moscow)
Three clubs from Azerbaijan reached the Soviet top flight. Two only lasted one season (Dynamo Kirovabad, from the town called GƏncƏ since 1991, and Temp Baku) while Neftchi Baku (earlier known as Neftianik) played there 27 seasons, their best ever league finish being 3rd in 1966; they also were eliminated at the semifinal stage of the Soviet Cup on 4 occasions within 5 seasons. No Azerbaijani club ever reached the Soviet cup final. Since the split, Neftchi (nowadays Neftçi Bakı) won 5 championships in Azerbaijan and as many cups. Dinamo Kirovabad were renamed Kyepez (Kapaz) in 1973 and won 3 league championships and 4 cups in Azerbaijan since independence. They were renamed FK GƏncƏ during the 2004/05 season and withdrew from the 2006/07 league. Temp Baku were a temporary phenomenon - they were dissolved in 1940.
Note that Nagorno-Karabakh, an independent region within the Azerbaijani SSR during Soviet times, is de facto independent, and clubs originating from its main city Stepanakert currently play in the Armenian league (hosting their matches outside of Nagorno-Karabakh though); nevertheless, the region is within the internationally recognised borders of Azerbaijan, though controlled by Armenia.
City name correspondences: Russian Azerbaijani Baku Bakı Kirovabad GƏncƏ Championship Neftianik/Neftchi Baku Top-5 finishes (in 27 top level seasons) 1966 3.Neftianik Baku 36 18 9 9 56-28 45 1967 5.Neftchi Baku 36 16 10 10 51-33 42 Dynamo Kirovabad (1 top level season)) 1968 20.Dynamo Kirovabad 38 5 9 24 25-59 19 Temp Baku (1 top level season) 1938 19.Temp Baku 25 6 8 11 33-40 20 Cup 1967: semifinal: Neftchi Baku (0-3 vs CSKA Moscow) 1968: semifinal: Neftchi Baku (0-2 vs Torpedo Moscow) 1970: semifinal: Neftchi Baku (0-1 vs Dynamo Tbilisi) 1971: semifinal: Neftchi Baku (0-5 vs Spartak Moscow)
Only one Belarussian club played in the Soviet top division, under 3 different names (Dynamo Minsk, Spartak Minsk and Belarus Minsk). They won one championship, in 1982, and reached and lost two Soviet Cup finals. Since the independence of Belarus, Dynamo won 7 league championships (including the first five editions) and 3 cup tournaments.
Note that prior to World War II, parts of Belarus (including cities such as Brest/Brześć, Hrodna/Grodno and Pinsk/Pińsk) belonged to Poland.
As an aside, note that the Polish region around Białystok (Belastok in Belarussian, Belostok in Russian) was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1939 to 1944 and as such part of the Belarussian Soviet Socialist Republic. No information on football activities during this period is available.
Championship
Dynamo Minsk
Top-5 finishes (in 39 top level seasons)
1954 3.Spartak Minsk 24 12 6 6 29-23 30
1963 3.Dynamo Minsk 38 18 12 8 47-27 48
1965 4.Dynamo Minsk 32 14 9 9 37-27 37
1967 4.Dynamo Minsk 38 13 17 6 47-31 43
1982 1.Dynamo Minsk 34 19 9 6 63-35 47
1983 3.Dynamo Minsk 34 17 9 8 51-34 43
1984 5.Dynamo Minsk 34 15 13 6 43-28 40 [-3]
NB: points were only awarded for the first 10 draws
1985 4.Dynamo Minsk 34 16 9 9 40-31 41
1987 5.Dynamo Minsk 30 12 9 9 33-25 33
Cup
1965: finalists: Dynamo Minsk (0-0, 1-2 vs Spartak Moscow)
1966: semifinal: Dynamo Minsk (0-1 vs Dynamo Kiev)
1987: finalists: Dynamo Minsk (3-3 aet, 2-4 pen vs Dynamo Kiev)
Only one Estonian club, Kalev Tallinn, played in the top Soviet division, and that for only 2 seasons. In 58 matches they managed only 3 wins, 2 of them in the relegation playoff in their first season. No Estonian club ever reached the Soviet cup semifinals. Prior to Estonia's annexation by the Soviet Union at the start of World War II, Kalev had won two Estonian championships (1923 and 1930) and reached one cup final (1939, lost 1-4 vs Tallinna JK). The football section of this omnisports club was dissolved at some stage afterwards but refounded in 2002, and returned to the Estonian top level in 2007, finishing sixth.
Championship Kalev Tallinn (2 top level seasons) 1960 19.Kalev Tallinn 26 2 6 18 21-72 10 [group and playoff] 1961 22.Kalev Tallinn 32 1 8 23 25-74 10
Five Georgian clubs played in the Soviet top flight: two lasted only one season, and one just two, but Torpedo Kutaisi held their own for 13 seasons and Dynamo Tbilisi was one of the powerhouses of the Soviet Union, ever present from the second edition of the Soviet league in the fall of 1936 until departing for an independent Georgian championship in 1990, winning 2 league championships, 2 Soviet Cups (and losing 6 finals), and bringing home a European trophy (the 1980/81 Cup Winners Cup, won 2-1 against Carl Zeiss Jena in a fairly deserted stadium in Düsseldorf).
Since Georgia organises its own independent championship, Dinamo Tbilisi have won it 13 times, including each of the first ten editions, and won 9 cups, including each of the first six. Their six consecutive league-and-cup doubles from 1991/92 to 1996/97 are a world record they share with Pakhtakor Toshkent (2002 to 2007) in Uzbekistan. Torpedo Kutaisi won 3 championships and 2 cups, Lokomotivi Tbilisi have won 3 cups and Guria Lanchkhuti 1. Spartaki Tbilisi played two seasons in the top Georgian league division (2003/04 and 2005/06) but its relationship with the 1950s club is doubtful.
Note that the former Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia, which lies within the internationally recognised borders of Georgia, claimed independence and organises its own championship since 1994; clubs from the region (whose main cities include Sukhumi, Gali, Ochamchira and Gagra) played in the Georgian league structure until 1993 and a team called Dinamo Sukhumi also entered in 2005/06 (but played in Tbilisi), while FC Gagra has been playing at the second Georgian level since 2005 and obtained entry to the 2008/09 first level; like Dinamo Sukhumi they play home matches in Tbilisi.
Championship
Dynamo Tbilisi
Top-3 finishes (in 51 top level seasons)
1936 aut 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 7 3 3 1 14- 9 16
1939 2.Dynamo Tbilisi 26 14 5 7 60-41 33
1940 2.Dynamo Tbilisi 24 15 4 5 56-30 34
1946 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 22 15 3 4 47 26 33
1947 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 24 14 5 5 57-30 33
1950 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 36 20 7 9 78-50 47
1951 2.Dynamo Tbilisi 28 15 6 7 59-36 36
1953 2.Dynamo Tbilisi 20 11 5 4 39-24 27
1959 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 22 12 3 7 48-33 27
1962 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 22 10 8 4 29-20 28
1964 1.Dynamo Tbilisi 32 18 10 4 48-30 46
NB: Dynamo won championship playoff (4-1 aet vs Torpedo Moscow)
1967 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 36 16 13 7 53-33 45
1969 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 26 12 11 3 34-17 35
1971 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 30 14 8 8 33-33 36
1972 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 30 12 11 7 41-34 35
1976 spr 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 15 7 4 4 18-10 18
1976 aut 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 15 6 5 4 16-12 17
1977 2.Dynamo Tbilisi 30 13 13 4 43-26 39
1978 1.Dynamo Tbilisi 30 17 8 5 45-24 42
1981 3.Dynamo Tbilisi 34 16 10 8 62-35 42
Torpedo Kutaisi
Best 5 league finishes (in 13 top level seasons)
1963 12.Torpedo Kutaisi 38 6 21 11 22-37 33
1964 13.Torpedo Kutaisi 32 10 7 15 20-37 27
1967 13.Torpedo Kutaisi 36 8 15 13 37-50 31
1982 13.Torpedo Kutaisi 34 10 10 14 39-45 30
1985 11.Torpedo Kutaisi 34 11 9 14 40-51 31
Spartak Tbilisi (2 top level seasons)
1950 9.Spartak Tbilisi 36 14 9 13 50-53 37
1951 14.Spartak Tbilisi 28 7 2 19 32-56 16
Guria Lanchkhuti (1 top level season)
1987 16.Guria Lanchkhuti 30 5 8 17 18-38 18
Lokomotiv Tbilisi (1 top level season)
1938 24.Lokomotiv Tbilisi 25 5 5 15 44-62 15
NB: Lokomotiv were to play in the 1940 league but withdrew
Cup
1936: finalists: Dynamo Tbilisi (0-2 vs Lokomotiv Moscow)
1937: finalists: Dynamo Tbilisi (2-5 vs Dynamo Moscow)
1946: finalists: Dynamo Tbilisi (2-3 vs Spartak Moscow)
1960: finalists: Dynamo Tbilisi (3-4 vs Torpedo Moscow)
1970: finalists: Dynamo Tbilisi (1-2 vs Dynamo Moscow)
1974: semifinal: Dynamo Tbilisi (0-1, 0-0 vs Dynamo Kiev)
1975: semifinal: Dynamo Tbilisi (1-3 vs Ararat Yerevan)
1976: winners: Dynamo Tbilisi (3-0 vs Ararat Yerevan)
1979: winners: Dynamo Tbilisi (0-0 aet, 5-4 pen vs Dynamo Moscow)
1980: finalists: Dynamo Tbilisi (1-2 vs Shakhter Donetsk)
1982: semifinal: Dynamo Tbilisi (0-2 vs Dynamo Kiev)
1989: semifinal: Dynamo Tbilisi (1-2 vs Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk)
Only one Kazakh club played in the Soviet top division, Kairat Alma-Ata, who managed to play 24 seasons at that level. They reached the semifinals of the Soviet Cup in 1963. After independence, they play (as Qayrat Almaty) in the Kazakh league, in which they claimed two championships; they also won a record 5 Kazakh cups.
Note that the Kazakh Socialist Soviet Republic was only established in December 1936; before, the Kazakh Autonomous Republic had been part of the Russian Federation, and so Dinamo Aktyubinsk entered the first ever Soviet Cup in 1936 (in which they lost 0-4 to CDKA (now CSKA) Moscow in the 1/32 finals) as a Russian team although the town of Aktyubinsk (now called Aqtöbe, and as such home of the 2007 and 2008 Kazakh champions FK Aqtöbe) is in Kazakhstan.
Championship
Kairat Alma-Ata
Top-10 finishes (in 24 top level seasons)
1971 8.Kairat Alma-Ata 30 9 10 11 36-40 28
1973 9.Kairat Alma-Ata 30 8 11 11 25-37 26 [-1]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with only
the shootout winners obtaining a point; Kairat won
10 of their 11 shoot-outs!
1977 8.Kairat Alma-Ata 30 6 17 7 26-31 29
1984 8.Kairat Alma-Ata 34 13 8 13 44-42 34
1985 9.Kairat Alma-Ata 34 11 13 10 43-46 32 [-3]
NB: points were only awarded for the first 10 draws
1986 7.Kairat Alma-Ata 30 11 8 11 33-39 30
Cup
1963: semifinal: Kairat Alma-Ata (1-2 vs Shakhter Donetsk)
No Kyrgyz club ever played in the Soviet top level or
reached a Soviet cup semifinal. (In 1948, a top flight
with about 30 clubs, including at least one from each
Soviet Republic, was planned but eventually cancelled;
the prospective Kyrgyz participants were Zenit Frunze.)
Alga Frunze (their home town
is now called Bishkek) played several seasons at the
second level, their best performance being an 11th place
finish in 1972. Since
independence, this club won the league-and-cup double
in 1992 before converting to Alga-PVO and then SKA-PVO
Bishkek, as which they won 7 consecutive cup finals and
3 championships.
Soviet First League (2nd level) Alga Frunze (best performance) 1972 11.Alga Frunze 38 10 14 14 42-44 34
Only one Latvian club played in the Soviet top division, Daugava Riga, who completed 7 seasons there. Their best ever league placing was 11th, in 1951. The club was founded in 1948 and so did not participate in Latvian football prior to the annexation by the Soviet Union. After independence, they reached the 1992 cup final (as Daugava/Kompar), losing 0-1 after extra time to Skonto Rīga, but the club went bankrupt in 1995. A club called Amstrig then was renamed to Daugava Rīga and finished runners-up in the Virslīga behind Skonto in 1996 and 1997, but it was not related to the old Daugava and eventually disappeared from the top level as well.
Note that although all other Baltic clubs withdrew from the Soviet league structure before the start of the 1991 season at the latest, one Latvian club, Pardaugava Riga, played at the second level (Pervaja Liga) of the Soviet league structure in 1991, finishing 22nd and last. As Latvia became formally independent in August 1991, they played the last few months of the season as a roving club.
Championship Daugava Riga (7 top level seasons) 1949 17.Daugava Riga 34 7 5 22 21-64 19 1950 12.Daugava Riga 36 12 8 16 37-45 32 1951 11.Daugava Riga 28 9 7 12 44-44 25 1952 12.Daugava Riga 13 2 5 6 10-14 9 1960 12.Daugava Riga 30 9 11 10 35-36 29 [group and playoff] 1961 21.Daugava Riga 32 5 7 20 30-63 17 1962 21.Daugava Riga 18 6 4 8 14-20 16
Only one Lithuanian club played in the Soviet top division,
Zalgiris Vilnius (called Spartak for part of their history),
who completed 11 seasons. In the eighties they consistently
managed top-10 finishes after earning promotion in 1982, with
their best ever final placing 3rd in 1987. The club was
founded in 1947 and so did not play any role in Lithuanian
football prior to the annexation of the Baltic states by the
Soviet Union; for that matter, no club from the current capital
of Lithuania did, as Vilnius/Wilno was part of Poland
at the time.
The area around Klaipėda/Memel was
part of Germany until 1923; clubs from Klaipėda
played in the Lithuanian league between 1924 and 1939 (when
Germany invaded the area) but also played several seasons
during this period in the
German league structure.
Championship
Zalgiris Vilnius
Top-10 finishes (in 11 top level seasons)
1983 5.Zalgiris Vilnius 34 15 9 10 38-36 39
1984 9.Zalgiris Vilnius 34 12 11 11 30-38 34 [-1]
NB: points were only awarded for the first 10 draws
1985 7.Zalgiris Vilnius 34 12 11 11 43-49 34 [-1]
NB: points were only awarded for the first 10 draws
1986 8.Zalgiris Vilnius 30 11 8 11 32-37 30
1987 3.Zalgiris Vilnius 30 14 8 8 43-29 36
1988 5.Zalgiris Vilnius 30 14 7 9 39-35 35
1989 4.Zalgiris Vilnius 30 14 8 8 39-29 36
Cup
1988: semifinal: Zalgiris Vilnius (1-2 vs Metallist Kharkov)
Only one Moldovan club played in the Soviet top division, Nistru Kishinev, also known as Dynamo, Burevestnik, Moldava, Avintul and Moldova during their history. In the 1991 season, Tiligul Tiraspol were second level runners-up and earned promotion to the Soviet top flight, but they joined the newly formed independent Moldovan league in 1992. No Moldovan club ever reached the semifinals of the Soviet Cup. Nistru were renamed Zimbru Chişinău after independence and as such won a record 8 league championships and 5 Moldovan cups. Tiligul finished runners-up behind Zimbru on 6 occasions and won 3 cups but have lost top status in their home town, which lies in Transdnistria, to Sheriff Tiraspol, winners of eight consecutive championships from 2000/01 to 2007/08 and on course for a record ninth.
See also the section on Romania, as prior to the second World War, most of the current Republic of Moldova belonged (as Bessarabia) to that country. In fact, the Moldovian Socialist Soviet Republic was formed by merging Bessarabia with the Moldovian Autonomous Republic (part of Ukraine and corresponding to current Transdnistria) in August 1940; Spartak Tiraspol entered the 1938 Soviet Cup (in which they lost 0-4 to Dzerzhinets Kremenchug in the 1/256 finals) as Ukrainian representatives.
As an aside, note that SKA Odessa (who twice played in the top Soviet league in 1965 and 1966, finishing last both seasons, 17th and 19th respectively) and also entered the Ukrainian top league in 1992 (finishing 10th and last in their group) temporarily (between 1972 and 1976) moved to Tiraspol (then part of the Moldovian Socialist Soviet Republic) and as such represented Moldova in the second level of the Soviet league structure (known as Zvezda Tiraspol 1972-73 and Komanda goroda Tiraspol 1974-75).
Championship Nistru Kishinev Best 5 league finishes (in 11 top level seasons) 1956 6.Burevestnik Kishinev 22 9 5 8 38-49 23 1957 9.Burevestnik Kishinev 22 4 10 8 24-36 18 1958 11.Moldova Kishinev 22 3 9 10 25-47 15 1959 10.Moldova Kishinev 22 6 5 11 22-45 17 1962 12.Moldova Kishinev 22 3 5 14 20-35 11
Five different Russian clubs accounted for 34 league
championships, including all 22 played between 1936
and 1960 (and so only 12 in the last 3 decades of the
existence of the Soviet Union) while 31 Soviet cups,
including 18 of the 19 played between 1936 and 1960,
were won by seven different Russian clubs. Twenty-six
other Russian clubs reached the Soviet top flight, and
five lost Soviet cup finals.
Four of the clubs involved won league championships
in Russia after the disintegration of the Soviet Union,
and one other won a cup:
Spartak Moskva (a record 9 championships, 3 cups),
Lokomotiv Moskva (2 championships, a record 5 cups; Lokomotiv
never won a Soviet championship), CSKA Moskva (3 championships
and 3 cups), Zenit Sankt Peterburg
(1 championship and 1 cup; Leningrad having reverted to its old name)
and Dinamo Moskva (1 cup). Torpedo
have been less successful, not only failing to win silverware
but suffering relegation in 2006 for the first time since
entering the Soviet top level in 1937.
Note that some regions now in Russia belonged to Finland (Karelian Isthmus with Viipuri/Vyborg and Ladoga Karelia with Sortavala) and Germany (East Prussia (Ostpreußen) with Köningsberg/Kaliningrad and Insterburg/Černjahovsk) before the second World War.
Championship Spartak Moscow (12 championships) 1936, 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1989 NB: the 1936 title was the autumn one. Dynamo Moscow (11 championships) 1936, 1937, 1940, 1945, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1976 NB: the 1936 and 1976 titles were the spring ones. CSKA Moscow (7 championships; includes CDKA and CDSA) 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1970, 1991 NB: the 4 titles 1946-50 were won as CDKA, the 1951 one as CDSA Torpedo Moscow (3 championships) 1960, 1965, 1976 (autumn) Zenit Leningrad (1 championship) 1984 Cup Spartak Moscow (10 cups) 1938, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1992 Dynamo Moscow (6 cups) 1937, 1953, 1967, 1970, 1977, 1985 Torpedo Moscow (6 cups) 1949, 1952, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1986 CSKA Moscow (5 cups; includes CDKA and CDSA) 1945, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1991 NB: the 2 cups 1945-48 were won as CDKA, the 2 1951-55 as CDSA Lokomotiv Moscow (2 cups) 1936, 1957 SKA Rostov-na-Donu (1 cup) 1981 Zenit Leningrad (1 cup) 1944
Only one Tajik club played in the Soviet top division, Pamir Dushanbe. They first gained promotion in 1988 and preserved their status for three seasons before joining the new Tajik league. In the last Soviet Cup, played 1991/92 and characterised by the withdrawal of many teams from break-away republics, Pamir reached the semifinals. After independence, Pamir won 2 league championships and one Tajik cup, including the 1992 league-and-cup double. After their 1995 title, the players all left the club and the country, moving to Uzbekistan, where there was no civil war and they could earn more money, and the club was dissolved.
Championship Pamir Dushanbe (3 top level seasons) 1989 13.Pamir Dushanbe 30 7 10 13 20-38 24 1990 10.Pamir Dushanbe 24 7 4 13 26-34 18 1991 10.Pamir Dushanbe 30 7 13 10 28-32 27 Cup 1992: semifinal: Pamir Dushanbe (0-2 vs CSKA Moscow)
No Turkmen club ever played in the Soviet top level or
reached a Soviet cup semifinal. (In 1948, a top flight
with about 30 clubs, including at least one from each
Soviet Republic, was planned but eventually cancelled;
the prospective Turkmen participants were Lokomotiv Ashgabat.)
Kolhozchi Ashgabat played several seasons at the
second level (also as Stroitel), their best performance
being a 9th place
finish in 1976.
Soviet First League (2nd level) Kolhozchi Ashgabat (best performance) 1976 9.Kolhozchi Ashgabat 38 16 7 15 61-62 39
Three different Ukrainian clubs accounted for 16 league
championships, all in the three decades from 1961 to 1990,
and as many Soviet cups were brought to the Ukraine by
5 different clubs, all but one in the same three decades
from 1961 to 1990. Apart from the six clubs involved,
also precisely all Ukrainian clubs to reach the Soviet
cup final (1972 champions Zarya Voroshilovgrad lost both
their cup finals in 1974 and 1975), eight others reached
the Soviet top flight.
Among the six clubs to win honours in the Soviet Union,
only 2 managed to do so since independence: Dynamo Kyiv
won 13 league titles and 9 Ukrainian cups (both records)
while Shakhtar Donetsk (who never won the Soviet league)
claimed 4 championships and 6 cups. These two clubs have
won all Ukrainian honours since 1994 (the last title to
go elsewhere was the 1993/94 cup, won by Chornomorets Odesa).
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk reached 3 cup finals but lost them all
to Shakhtar, while Karpaty Lviv faced Dynamo Kyiv in both
of their cup final appearances and were defeated both times.
Metalist Kharkiv reached the first cup final since independence
in 1992 but lost it to Chornomorets. Zarya Voroshilovgrad,
probably the most surprising club to have ever won a Soviet
championship, are currently called Zorja Luhansk,
after their home town returned to its original name, and
spent most time since independence moving between the
divisions, dropping as deep as the third division for
five seasons (1998-2003) before returning to the top flight
for the 2006/07 season.
As an aside, note that SKA Odessa (who twice played in the top Soviet league in 1965 and 1966, finishing last both seasons, 17th and 19th respectively) and also entered the Ukrainian top league in 1992 (finishing 10th and last in their group) temporarily (between 1972 and 1976) moved to Tiraspol (then part of the Moldovian Socialist Soviet Republic) and as such represented Moldova in the second level of the Soviet league structure (known as Zvezda Tiraspol 1972-73 and Komanda goroda Tiraspol 1974-75).
Another 'internal' border change during the Soviet era involves the Crimea peninsula. This was part of the Russian Federation until February 1954, when it was transferred to the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. Five clubs from the area played in the Soviet Cup as Russian clubs: Pischevik Simferopol' (in 1938 only, losing 0-1 to Spartak Simferopol' in the 1/256 finals), Spartak Simferopol' (in 1938 only, losing 1-2 to Lokomitiv Kiev in the 1/32 finals), Pischevik Kerch' (in 1938 only, losing 1-3 to Spartak Simferopol' in the 1/128 finals), Stal Kerch' (in 1938 only, losing 2-3 to Sudostroitel Sevastopol' in the 1/128 finals), and Sudostroitel Sevastopol' (on four occasions, 1936-38 and 1949, with their best performance reaching the 1/32 finals in 1936, losing 2-3 to KhTZ Kharkov). Sudostroitel Sevastopol' also played one season at the second level of the Soviet league structure (finishing 10th out of 11 in the Russian Zone of Class B in 1949).
Note that some relatively small parts of the Ukraine belonged to
Romania (northern Bukovina) and
(Czecho-)Slovakia (Transcarpathia
or Carpathian Ruthenia)
prior to the second World War. A much larger part
(comprising (parts of) Galicia, Podolia and Volhynia, and
including cities such as
Lviv/Lemberg/Lwów/Lvov, Łuck/Lutsk, Rivne/Równe,
and Stanisławów/Ivano-Frankivsk) belonged to
Poland. During the war, Hungary
occupied Transcarpathia (Kárpátalja,
a region which had belonged to Hungary for centuries).
Moreover, Ukrainian city selections entered the
Russian championships of 1912 and 1913.
Championship
Dynamo Kiev (13 championships)
1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981,
1985, 1986, 1990
Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk (2 championships)
1983, 1988
Zarya Voroshilovgrad (1 championship)
1972
Cup
Dynamo Kiev (9 cups)
1954, 1964, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990
Shakhter Donetsk (4 cups, includes Shakhter Stalino)
1961, 1962, 1980, 1983
NB: the 1961 cup was won as Shakhter Stalino, after the
temporary name of the club's hometown
Metalist Kharkov (1 cup)
1988
Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk (1 cup)
1989
Karpaty Lvov (1 cup)
1969
Only one Uzbek club played in the Soviet top division, Pakhtakor Tashkent, who were active at the level for 22 seasons, finishing 6th on 2 occasions and in the top-10 on 8. They once reached the Soviet Cup final. They were founded in 1946 under the name of Spartak and are not related to the 1939 Soviet cup semifinalists Dinamo Tashkent. Since independence Pakhtakor Toshkent won 8 Uzbek league championships, including six consecutive ones from 2002 to 2007, and sharing it in 1992 with Neftchi Fergana, as well as 9 Uzbek cups, including seven consecutive ones from 2001 to 2007; both numbers are records. Their six consecutive league-and-cup doubles from 2002 to 2007 are a world record they share with Dinamo Tbilisi (1991/92 to 1996/97) in Georgia.
Championship
Pakhtakor Tashkent
Top-10 finishes (in 22 top level seasons)
1961 10.Pakhtakor Tashkent 30 11 8 11 44-61 30
1962 6.Pakhtakor Tashkent 22 9 5 8 24-33 23
1965 10.Pakhtakor Tashkent 32 10 12 10 34-40 32
1966 9.Pakhtakor Tashkent 36 10 18 8 36-32 38
1974 8.Pakhtakor Tashkent 30 10 10 10 45-44 30
1979 9.Pakhtakor Tashkent 34 11 9 14 42-53 30 [-1]
NB: points were only awarded for the first 8 draws
1982 6.Pakhtakor Tashkent 34 13 11 10 42-38 36 [-1]
NB: points were only awarded for the first 10 draws
1983 10.Pakhtakor Tashkent 34 13 9 12 37-34 35
Cup
1939: semifinal: Dinamo Tashkent (0-3 vs Stalinets Leningrad)
1968: finalists: Pakhtakor Tashkent (0-1 vs Torpedo Moscow)
When most clubs from Georgia withdrew from the Soviet championship after the 1989 season to enter an independent Georgian championship in 1990, various clubs from Abkhazia remained in the Soviet structure: Dinamo Sukhumi played at the second Soviet level in 1990 and 1991, and Dinamo Gagra at the fourth level 1991. Other clubs from the region did enter the Georgian league between 1990 and 1992/93. Abkhazia declared independence in 1992; in the ensuing war, Abkhazia, supported by Russia, defeated the Georgian army and a mass exodus of ethnic Georgians from the region followed. After a Georgian attack on the likewise separatist region of South Ossetia in 2008, Russia intervened, assumed military control over both regions and recognised their independence.
Since about 1994, Abkhazia organises an independent football championship. In 2005/06, a club called Dinamo Sukhumi but playing in Tbilisi entered the Premier League in Georgia, and FC Gagra entered it for the 2008/09 season after having played at the second Georgian level since 2005/06 (also staging home matches in Tbilisi), where Siharuli-90 Gagra had played in 1990 and 1991.
Only very limited information is available on the Abkhaz championships held since 1994; Dinamo Gagra, who played in the fourth Soviet division in 1991, finished third in the league in 2003, while FK Gagra (presumably a new name for Dinamo and not related to the club playing in the Georgian league structure) lost the 2006 cup final to Nart Sukhumi.
Championship
Tskhumi Sukhumi (4 top level seasons)
1990 7.Tskhumi Sukhumi 34 13 10 11 50-36 49
1991 6.Tskhumi Sukhumi 19 9 4 6 34-26 31
1991/92 2.Tskhumi Sukhumi 38 24 4 10 96-53 76
1992/93 17.Tskhumi Sukhumi 32 8 1 23 59-84 25
Mziuri Gali (3 top level seasons)
1990 13.Mziuri Gali 34 11 7 16 47-69 40
1991 14.Mziuri Gali 19 6 4 9 25-28 22
1991/92 7.Mziuri Gali 38 16 5 17 53-65 53
Amirani Ochamchira (3 top level seasons)
1990 17.Amirani Ochamchira 34 10 7 17 36-55 37
1991 19.Amirani Ochamchira 19 4 6 9 27-37 18
1991/92 17.Amirani Ochamchira 38 13 8 17 48-56 47
Dinamo Sukhumi (1 top level season)
2005/06 15.Dinamo Sukhumi 30 5 3 22 26-70 18
NB: played in Tbilisi
FC Gagra (1 top level season)
2008/09 9.FC Gagra 30 7 7 16 23-48 28
NB: play in Tbilisi
Cup
1990: finalists: Tskhumi Sukhumi (0-1 aet vs Guria Lanchkhuti)
1/8 final: Mziuri Gali (1-0, 2-4 vs Guria Lanchkhuti)
1992: finalists: Tskhumi Sukhumi (1-3 vs Iberia Tbilisi)
quarterf.: Mziuri Gali (3-2, 1-2 vs Torpedo Kutaisi)
quarterf.: Amirani Ochamchira (1-1, 1-3 aet vs Tskhumi Sukhumi)
1993: 1/8 final: Tskhumi Sukhumi (1-1, 1-5 vs Torpedo Kutaisi)
2006: 1/8 final: FC Gagra (1-4, 0-0 vs Ameri Tbilisi)
1/8 final: Dinamo Sukhumi (0-2, 1-2 vs FC Borjomi)
Like Abchazia (and Abcharia), South Ossetia has been seeking independence from Georgia since the break-up of the Soviet Union. In spite of this, clubs from the capital Tskhinvali have entered the Georgian league structure, occasionally playing in the top flight, and there is no information on an independent league structure in the region. However, such a structure is likely to be established after the events in August 2008, when a Georgian attempt to bring its autonomous region under control by military means backfired after the Russian army intervened.
Championship
Spartaki Tskhinvali (3 top level seasons)
2005/06 14.FC Tskhinvali 30 8 3 19 30-61 27
2007/08 11.Spartaki Tskhinvali 26 5 8 13 15-28 23
2008/09 10.Spartaki (Tskhinvali) 30 6 7 17 28-46 25
NB: FC Tskhinvali played in Gori in 2005/06, and presumably
did and do the same under their new name Spartaki.
Liahvi Tskhinvali (1 top level season)
1990 18.Liahvi Tskhinvali 34 0 0 34 11-135 0
Cup
2008: quarterf.: Spartaki Tskhinvali (0-0, 1-2 vs Dinamo Tbilisi)
2009: 1/8 final: Spartaki Tskhinvali (1-0, 1-3 vs Merani Martvili)
Czech Republic (1918-1938) | Czech Republic (1944-1993) | Slovakia (1918-1938) | Ukraine (1918-1938) | Slovakia (1944-1993)
Note that below we use the adjective 'Czech' to mean 'belonging to the area of the current Czech Republic'. In the Czech language itself, the corresponding adjective český originally referred to Bohemia (Čechý) only. Also note that the current Czech Republic does not only consist of the historical regions Bohemia and Moravia but also comprises a part of Silesia, with as most important towns Ostrava, Opava, Karviná and Havířov.
The former Czechoslovakia was both unified and split twice
during its history, quite apart from
various border changes concerning all of its neighbours
(Germany, Hungary, Soviet Union/Ukraine and Poland).
However, all the more important clubs came from the regions
that are now the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and for each
of them we will discuss those teams to win honours during the
times the two countries were bound together. Between the
wars, Czechoslovakia also comprised a part of the current
Ukraine
(Transcarpathia, with as main cities (names in Slovak)
Užhorod,
Berehovo
and Mukačevo).
War-time feats of clubs from both countries not part of the
Bohemian-Moravian or Slovak league structures can be
found above, under Germany (for Bohemian
and Moravian clubs) and Hungary (for
Slovak clubs).
Given the multitude of clubs involved, we proceed
similarly as for the Russian and Ukrainian clubs with the
Soviet Union - i.e. listing only the honours won by the
various clubs. We distinguish two periods of
common championships (from 1918 to 1938 and from 1944 to 1993)
and three of separate championships (until 1918, from 1938 to 1944
and since 1993). However, given the almost complete lack of
Slovak clubs at the Czechoslovak top level in the interbellum,
all relevant top flight finishes of Slovak clubs in that period
are listed.
Note that an official league championship was not created until
1925, together with the introduction of professional football
in the country. Prior to
that, regional championships were organised, followed by
national championship playoffs on an irregular basis - in fact,
on only four occasions: 1912, 1913, 1919 and 1922. All four
were won by the champions of the Central Bohemian region,
the středočeska župa, dominated by clubs
from Prague. It is therefore customary to consider the winners
of the Central Bohemian league as Czech champions (until 1917)
or Czechoslovak champions (between 1918 and 1925; Slovakia was
part of the Hungarian section of the Habsburg Monarchy until
October 1918), also in the seasons without a national playoff,
but officially this is not correct.
Moreover, the official league may have been professional, but it
was not really national for almost a decade: from 1925 to 1933,
only clubs from Bohemia (Prague/Praha/Prag, Teplice/Teplitz,
Kladno) entered, none from Moravia or Slovakia, who played in
regional amateur leagues (which organised a national amateur
championship playoff during this period). However, in 1932/33,
a Moravian club, SK Židenice Brno (national amateur
champions in 1926), entered the second level of the
Asociační Liga, won it and earned promotion to
the first level 1933/34. They were then also one of two
Moravian participants (along with SK Prostějov, national
amateur champions in 1927/28) to enter the first truly
national league, the Státní Liga, in its inaugural
1934/35 season. The first Slovak club,
1.ČsŠK Bratislava (national amateur champions in 1927
and 1929/30) entered in the following season.
Nevertheless, all champions since 1925 are considered official,
as there is little doubt that the top (professional) Prague
clubs (in particular Slavia and Sparta) were (far) superior to
anything the rest of the country, which was divided among a
host of regional and ethnic (German and Hungarian) leagues
and federations, could offer. Similar observations can after
all be made for other countries such as Austria (official
league champions since 1911/12; first entry of clubs from
outside Vienna (Wien) 1938/39), Hungary
(official league champions since 1901; first entry of clubs
from outside Budapest 1926/27) or Uruguay (first entry of
clubs from outside Montevideo 1999!).
Three Czech clubs won official or unofficial league championships
between 1918 and 1938. Among those three, two won unofficial
Bohemian titles prior to 1917: Slavia (8 championships,
including a 1913 title which they confirmed in a national
playoff) and Sparta (1 championship, in 1912, also confirmed in
a national playoff). Both clubs also won championships
in the league of the Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren,
a peculiar war-time construction due to Nazi Germany: Slavia won
4 titles, Sparta 2.
Prior to World War II there was no cup competition for
all of Czechoslovakia. There was a variety of cup
tournaments for Central Bohemia, or just for Prague
clubs (which regarding the winners amounted to the
same thing, though provincial clubs occasionally reached
the final of the Central Bohemian
Středočeský Pohár).
The first cup for all Czech clubs (more precisely, those
from the Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren) was held in
1939/40 and promptly had two Moravian finalists (ASO Olomouc
beating SK Prostějov 5-2 on aggregate); however, this
was an anomaly as the remaining 4 cup tournaments organised
in this war-time 'state' were all claimed by Slavia (the first
two) and Sparta (the last two), and no Moravian teams reached
the final.
Championship
Sparta Praha (10 championships, of which 5 official)
1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1927, 1932, 1936, 1938
NB: only the last 5 are official (professional) titles, but
Sparta confirmed their 1919 and 1922 Central Bohemian
amateur titles by winning a national playoff
Slavia Praha (10 championships, of which 8 official)
1918, 1924, 1925, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937
NB: the first 2 titles were not official
Viktoria Žižkov (1 championship)
1928
Cup
There was no national cup tournament.
Eight Czech clubs won Czechoslovak league championships between 1944 and 1993. Among these clubs, both Slavia (4) and Sparta (2) won titles in the Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren between 1938 and 1944. Since 1993, three of these clubs have won titles in the Czech Republic: Sparta 10, Slavia 3 and Baník Ostrava 1. In the same period Sparta won 5 Czech cups, Slavia 3 and Baník Ostrava 1. The other Czech clubs to have won Czechoslovak league titles have not managed to do so in the Czech Republic.
In addition, four Czech clubs won Czechoslovak cups in the post-war period: Sparta Praha, Dukla Praha, Baník Ostrava and TJ Gottwaldov. Dukla reached one cup final in the independent Czech Republic (1997) and later were moved to Příbram and renamed Marila; they have not won any Czech honours. Spartak Hradec Králové won one Czech cup (as SK Hradec Králové; they are currently called FC Hradec Králové), while Bohemians, Vítkovice, Zbrojovka Brno (nowadays 1.FC Brno) and FC Zlín (the current name of TJ Gottwaldov after their home town reverted to its former name) have not won any Czech honours or reached a cup final.
We have refrained from listing all aliases under which clubs have been known.
Championship Sparta Praha (14 championships) 1946, 1947, 1952, 1954, 1965, 1967, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993 Dukla Praha (11 championships) 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1977, 1979, 1982 Baník Ostrava (3 championships) 1976, 1980, 1981 Slavia Praha (1 championship) 1947 NB: Slavia also won the unofficial, transitional autumn league 1948. Bohemians Praha (1 championship) 1983 Spartak Hradec Králové (1 championship) 1960 TJ Vítkovice (1 championship) 1986 Zbrojovka Brno (1 championship) 1978 Cup Sparta Praha (8 cups) 1964, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1992 Dukla Praha (8 cups) 1961, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1990 Baník Ostrava (3 cups) 1973, 1978, 1991 TJ Gottwaldov (1 cup) 1970
No Slovak clubs won official or unofficial league championships between 1918 and 1938. However, 1.ČsŠK Bratislava won national amateur titles in 1927 and 1930. Only one Slovak club ever entered the Czechoslovak state league: 1.ČsŠK Bratislava for three seasons. Below we list their league finishes.
Championship 1.ČsŠK Bratislava (3 league seasons) 1935/36 7.1.ČsŠK Bratislava 26 10 5 11 50-61 25 1936/37 4.1.ČsŠK Bratislava 22 11 5 6 44-36 27 1937/38 5.1.ČsŠK Bratislava 22 10 1 11 46-53 21 Cup There was no national cup tournament.
The currently Ukrainian region Zakarpattya (Transcarpathia or Carpathian Ruthenia) belonged to Czechoslovakia during the interbellum, after having belonged to the Hungarian part of the Habsburg Empire prior to the Great War (as Kárpátalja). One club, Rusj Užhorod, played in the national league for one season. During the second World War, they were known as Ungvári Rusznyi and played at the lower levels of the Hungarian league structure (city rivals Ungvári AC won promotion to the Hungarian top level in 1944 but the 1944/45 season in which they competed lasted only 3 rounds before being abandoned). After the war, the club presumably was dissolved. No clubs from the region reached the first Soviet level, but Zakarpattya Uzhhorod have reached the top flight of independent Ukraine.
Apart from the participation of various clubs in the national Czechoslovak league structure, as detailed below, 18 regional championships were played during the interbellum, divided in Slavic and Hungarian sections. The Slavic winners were: ČsŠK Užhorod 8 titles, ŠK Rusj Užhorod 6 titles, ŠK Slavia Mukačevo and ŠK Rusj Chust with both 2 titles. The Hungarian winners were: Ungvári TK 6 titles, Ungvári AC, Ungvári MTE and Munkácsi SE, all with 3 titles, and Spartakus Palánk (from Munkács), Huszti SE and Királyhelmeci SC (from a town still in Slovakia), all with 1 title.
City name correspondences: Slovak Ukrainian Hungarian Russian Berehovo Berehowe Beregszász Beregowo Chust Khust Huszt Khust Kráľovský Chlmec Korolevs.Khlumcy Királyhelmec Mukačevo Mukacheve Munkács Mukachyovo Užhorod Uzhhorod Ungvár Uzhgorod Championship Rusj Užhorod (1 league season) 1936/37 11.Rusj Užhorod 22 3 2 17 24-79 8 Second level clubs from the region included: BFTC (Berehovo), MSE (Munkácsi Sport Egyesület), Slavia and Slovan (all from Mukačevo), UAC (Ungvári AC) and ČsŠK (both Užhorod). Cup There was no national cup tournament.
Three Slovak clubs won Czechoslovak league championships between
1944 and 1993. While the Czech clubs were dominant for most of
this period, Slovak clubs won all league titles from 1968 to 1975,
a stretch culminating in the 1976 win of the European championship
with a team greatly influenced by Slovak players (an honour which
should therefore not be credited to the current Czech Republic).
Among the 3 clubs involved, one (Slovan) won championships in the
war-time Slovak league (the country had been created by the nazis,
not including areas near the border with Hungary which Hitler had
handed to his Hungarian allies, see
Slovak clubs in Hungary).
Under their contemporary name of ŠK Bratislava (the new name
for 1.ČsŠK Bratislava) they won 4 of the 6 league
championships played.
In addition, five Slovak clubs won Czechoslovak cups in the post-war
period: Slovan Bratislava, Spartak Trnava, Lokomotíva Košice,
1.FC Košice and DAC Dunajská Streda.
Since independence, both Slovan and Internacional have won Slovak
league titles: Slovan a record 9, Internacional 2 around the turn
of the millennium. Both also won 3 Slovak cups.
Spartak Trnava lost out on the 1996/97 title
due to a last round loss away to strugglers Rimavská Sobota,
handing the championship on a silver platter
to 1.FC Košice, who also pipped them for the league title by
two points in the 1997/98 season. Spartak Trnava did win the cup
that season, their only Slovak honour to date. 1.FC Košice won
2 Slovak league titles but lost both cup finals they reached.
DAC Dunajská Streda won 1 Slovak cup, Lokomotíva Košice
have not won any honours in independent Slovakia.
We have refrained from listing all aliases under which clubs have been known.
Championship Slovan Bratislava (8 championships) 1949, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1992 Spartak Trnava (5 championships) 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 Internacional Bratislava (1 championship) 1959 Cup Slovan Bratislava (5 cups) 1962, 1963, 1968, 1974, 1982 Spartak Trnava (4 cups) 1967, 1971, 1975, 1986 Lokomotíva Košice (2 cups) 1977, 1979 1.FC Košice (1 cup) 1993 DAC Dunajská Streda (1 cup) 1987
During the interbellum, Romania was larger
than today. At the end of the Second Balkan War (1913),
the Romanian kingdom consisting of the historical areas Walachia
(Ţara Românească) and Moldavia (Moldova,
west of the Prut river, not to be confused with the currently
existing Republic of Moldova which is east of the same river)
annexed the southern Dobrodgea region (Cadrilater in
Romanian) from Bulgaria. In this region, Romanians were
a minority (about 2 percent in 1910, nearly all living in
Silistra and Turtucaia/Tutrakan, and between 20 and 25 percent
between 1930 and 1940, with both Bulgarians and Turks forming
significantly larger groups).
The Cadrilater was divided in two provinces (judeţe)
during Romanian occupation, Durostor (with as main towns Silistra and
Turtucaia) and Caliacra (with as main towns Balcic, Bazargic and
Caliacra). Both provinces had one club playing at the
Romanian third level: Gloria Venera CFR Bazargic in both 1936/37
and 1937/38, the only two seasons before the second World War
in which a third level was organised, and Vifor Dristor Silistra
in 1937/38. Another team from Bazargic was Avântul (which must
have existed between 1938 and 1940 at least), and a Bazargic youth
selection won the Cupa Virgil Tilea in 1940, defeating a youth selection
from Bucureşti 1-0 in the final.
In Bulgarian football, only Bazargic (as Dobrich or
Tolbukhin) were ever represented in the Bulgarian top level
league, while Levski-Dorostol Silistra (possibly related to
Vifor Dristor) entered the 1945 knock-out championship.
Note that all clubs mentioned below are from Bessarabia (Basarab);
apart from Traian Tighina, all are from the Bessarabian (and now
Moldovan) capital Chişinău; Bessarabia
only corresponds partially to the current Republic of Moldova and
is but a part of the historical region of Moldavia (which also
includes most of current Romania east of the Carpathian mountains,
with as most important city the former Romanian capital Iaşi).
Bessarabia did not include the area of currently secessionist
Transdnistria (with as main city Tiraspol) but did contain the
region between the current Republic of Moldova and the Black Sea,
which now belongs to the Ukraine.
One club from Chişinău/Kishinev
reached the first Soviet level, and of course
many clubs from the region have played in the top flight of the
current republic of Moldova, but none appear to be related to any
of the interbellum clubs listed here.
Clubs from Chişinău reached the semifinals of the
Romanian championship playoff on three occasions.
After the introduction of a national league in 1932, no clubs from
the region reached the Romanian top level. Sporting
Chişinău played at the second level from 1934/35 to 1938/39,
Mihai Viteazul Chişinău in 1938/39 and Nistru
Chişinău (possibly a merger of the two former clubs, but
apparently not related to the Nistru Kishinev club which played
at the Soviet top level, as that club was founded (as Dynamo) in 1947)
and Macabi Chişinău in the 1939/40 season. Finally,
Traian Tighina played at the second level in 1938/39 and 1939/40 (in
which season they withdrew at the halfway stage),
after winning the eastern section of the third level in 1937/38.
Note that all clubs discussed below are from the northern Bukovina
(in fact its capital Cernăuţi); the southern
Bukovina (with as major city Suceava) is part of current Romania.
The current Ukraine also comprises another region which was
part of Romania in the interbellum, namely the southern
section of Bessarabia (Basarab) bordering the Black Sea.
The main cities of that region were (names in Romanian)
Cetatea Albă, Ismail and Chilia, but no clubs from there
made any impact in Romanian football.
No clubs from the region
reached the first Soviet level, but
Bukovyna Chernivtsy have played a few seasons in
the top flight of independent Ukraine. They do not bear
any relationship with the clubs listed below though.
The Romanian championship was organised in regional leagues whose
best teams played off for the national championship until 1932;
a first nationwide league (divided into two groups) was played in
1932/33. Clubs from Cernăuţi reached the semifinals of
the national playoffs on five occasions, and one club,
Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi, played one season
in the national league (1937/38; they had finished fourth in one of
the two second division groups in the previous season and profited
from the extension of the top flight from 12 to 20 clubs (organised
in two groups of 10); they finished last in their group and were
relegated). In addition, two clubs from the city played one or more
seasons at the second level: Jahn Cernăuţi (1934/35-1938/39)
and Muncitorul Cernăuţi (1939/40).
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Croatia |
Kosovo |
Macedonia |
Montenegro (until 1992) |
Montenegro (1992-2006) |
Serbia (until 1992) |
Serbia (since 1992) |
Slovenia
Yugoslavia was created as the 'Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes'
in 1918, and obtained its 'definite' interbellum borders in 1920.
These essentially corresponded to those of Yugoslavia after the second
World War (during which the Croats had obtained nominal independence
after the axis powers had dissolved the state). The federation underwent
a slow and bloody disintegration in the 1990s, with Slovenia and Croatia
declaring independence in June 1991, followed by Macedonia a few months
later; Bosnia-Herzegovina officially declared independence in February
1992 but had to suffer a war in the mid-90s before the situation
'stabilised'. Finally, the last two republics forming the original
federation, Serbia and Montenegro, split in 2006 when Montenegro
declared independence. The Kosovo, where Albanians form the overwhelming
majority of the population, was one of two autonomous regions within
Serbia during communist times (the other was the Vojvodina, split
between Hungary and Croatia during the second world war and providing one
club to the Hungarian top flight
for a few seasons and one to the Croatian top flight
for one season), and declared independence in 1991. While
the corresponding declarations of the former constituent republics tended
to be recognised by the western world fast, that of the Kosovo
(Kosova in Albanian) was not (a later declaration in February 2008
was meanwhile recognised by a number of countries but not universally
accepted). The NATO intervened in 1999 by
starting a war on Yugoslavia (as the state consisting of Serbia and
Montenegro was still called) and the Kosovo ended up under UN
administration controlled by NATO troops.
As Yugoslav football was dominated by clubs from Serbia and Croatia,
we treat those two regions similarly as Russia and the Ukraine in
the Soviet era, while the other regions obtain the same treatment as
the other 13 former Soviet republics. As Kosovo clubs now play their
own competition (even if not recognised by any official football body),
they (like Northern Cyprus) are treated as a separate entity here.
A muslim-only league started in 1994/95, and Čelik Zenica
won the first 3 editions; from 1997/98 to 1999/00, the best clubs
from the Muslim league played off with the best clubs from the
Croat league, which saw both Željezničar (1997/98) and
Sarajevo (1998/99) win their first Bosnian titles. In 2000/01
the two leagues merged completely, and Željezničar won
the first two editions of the combined league before Serbian clubs
also joined from the 2002/03 season on. Since then, none of the
clubs mentioned below have won a Bosnian championship,
apart from Sarajevo in 2006/07 (but the
2004/05 title went to Zrinjski Mostar, who played in the
Croatian war-time league - if they are
really the same club). Borac Banja Luka won the 2000/01 league
of the 'Republik Srpska' (which merged in 2002 into the all-Bosnian
league).
It is unclear whether pre-war Slavija Sarajevo are related
to the current Slavija Istočno Sarajevo; SAŠK Sarajevo
(who played, with other Bosnian clubs, in
the war-time Croatian league)
and Krajišnik Banja Luka have been dissolved while
Velež Mostar and Iskra Bugojno so far
failed to win any honours since independence.
Since independence, Dinamo Zagreb (temporarily called Croatia) won
11 league championship and 10 cups, both records,
and Hajduk Split 6 championships and 4 cups. Rijeka added 2
Croatian cups to their 2 Yugoslav ones.
After the NATO attack on Serbia in 1999, no Kosovar clubs have
played above the 4th level of the league structure of Serbia
and Montenegro anymore, but one club from the area (mostly from
the Mitrovica district) enters the round of 32 of the cup each
season, playing in a safe area (for Serbs) of the region or
outside of it.
In 1947, Pobeda Skopje (called Građanski until 1939)
merged with Makedonija Skopje
(see Macedonian clubs in Bulgaria) to
form Vardar Skopje, the strongest Macedonian club in the
communist era, who could call themselves Yugoslav champions for
a few months following the 1986/87 season.
Since independence, Vardar have won 5 league
championships and 5 cups in Macedonia, both records;
Rabotnički (now Rabotnički Kometal) have won 3
championships and 1 cup. Pelister Bitola have won one Macedonian
cup (in 2001) and lost 2 more cup finals. Teteks Tetovo
have not played a major role in independent Macedonia,
suffering relegation in its first league season (1992/93)
and temporarily losing the status of first club in town to
Škendija (or Shkëndia in the Albanian version of
the name).
What happened to Crnogorac Cetinje after World War II is not known,
presumably they were dissolved. For further comments, see the
1992-2006 section.
Montenegro started its first independent league in 2006/07. The first
honours were won by Zeta Golubovci (champions; they also were the
Montenegrin club with the best ever final placing in the
Serbo-Montenegrin league when they finished 3rd in 2004/05) and
Rudar Pljevlja (cup winners; they are the only Montenegrin club
to have reached the quarterfinals of the Serbo-Montenegrin cup
on two separate occasions). The second cup tournament, in 2007/08,
was won by Mogren Budva, claiming the trophy on penalties in a final
against Budućnost Podgorica, who thereby also lost their third
national cup final after those of Yugoslavia in 1965 and 1977 (when
their home town was called Titograd); Budućnost later claimed
the 2007/08 league title and were succeeded by Mogren Budva in 2008/09.
All seven Montenegrin clubs who ever played in the Serbo-Montenegrin
league played at the first Macedonian level in the inaugural 2006/07
season, in which Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje were relegated to the second
level, where they joined Čelik Nikšić, cup
quarterfinalists in 2000. Jedinstvo returned to the top flight for
the 2008/09 season. The other six clubs have never yet played outside
of the Montenegrin top level.
For honours of Serbian clubs since the disintegration of the former
Yugoslavia, see the next section.
Pre-war BSK Beograd, losing
semi-finalists of the 1939 and 1940 Mitropa-Cups, were dissolved
in 1945. A new club, Metalac Beograd, was created, which was renamed
BSK Beograd in 1950, OSD Beograd in 1957 and OFK Beograd in 1959.
Jugoslavija Beograd were dissolved in 1943.
Note that some clubs from towns currently in Serbia (Subotica in
the Vojvodina and Zemun) played in the
war-time Kroatian league
structure, while a club from Novi Sad, the capital of the Vojvodina,
spent some seasons in the Hungarian league.
Given the dominance of Serbian clubs in the Serbo-Montenegrin league,
we decline making a distinction between that set-up from 1992 to 2006
and the current separate Serbian league started in 2006/07 (likewise
we refrain from distinguishing between (the league structures of)
West Germany and the current Germany, following UEFA and FIFA in
this). Below we just list all Serbian clubs to win domestic
honours from the 1992/93 season onwards.
Olimpija Ljubljana (called Odred from 1948 to 1961)
won the first four championships of independent
Slovenia and also collected 4 cups; however, at the end of the 2004/05
season they were forcibly relegated to the amateur leagues and the
club as such was dissolved. A new club called NK Bežigrad, named
after the stadium and district in which Olimpija played, was then
established; they reached the third Slovenian league in 2007/08,
under the name of Olimpija Bežigrad, playing
in the western group (3. SNL - zahod),
meeting Izola Argeta among others. At the
end of the season, they were promoted, and they play in the
second level 2008/09 under the old name of Olimpija Ljubljana.
For the particular case of a club from the city of Trieste/Trst,
which partially belonged to Slovenia shortly after World War II,
competing in Yugoslavia, see the section on
moving borders.
Bophuthatswana |
Ciskei |
Transkei |
Venda
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the South African apartheid regime
declared four (of ten) bantustans (homelands) independent (a move not
recognised by any other country, but which caused the inhabitants to lose
their South African citizenship). This nominal independence lasted until the
first free elections in South Africa, early 1994. The four areas involved
were Transkei (capital Umtata, nowadays called Mthatha,
nominally independent since 1976),
Bophuthatswana (capital Mmabatho, nowadays merged with neighbouring Mafikeng,
misspelled by the British as Mafeking, nominally independent since 1977),
Venda (capital Thohoyandou, nominally independent since 1979) and
Ciskei (capital Bisho, nominally independent since 1981). Together these
four are currently known as "TBVC" (after their initial letters).
The six other homelands, Gazankulu, KaNgwane, KwaNdebele, KwaZulu,
Lebowa and QwaQwa, were never 'granted' this nominal independence.
Bophuthatswana was the only homeland to set up an independent
football structure and to attempt to obtain independent FIFA membership,
creating a football assocation (FABO) and league (BOPSOL). The latter,
which ran from 1983 to 1996, included GaRankuwa United (played at the
second level in South Africa in 2006/07 and 2007/08, when they were
relegated back to the third level) and
Lehurutshe Birds United (now at the third level). Other BOPSOL clubs
were Danville Celtics (from Mafikeng/Mafeking), Itsoseng Sundowns,
Lincoln City and Mmabatho Kicks.
Unfortunately no details on champions and cup winners within the
Bophuthatswana football structure are available, nor is it
not known whether any clubs from Bophuthatswana played in the South African
football structure during the homeland's nominal independency from 1977
to 1994. Lucas Radebe started his career in the BOPSOL.
Clubs from Ciskei played in the South African
football structure during the homeland's nominal independency from 1981
to 1994.
Umtata Bucks were founded in 1957 by
a former official of the Bush Bucks club from Durban who had moved to the area.
They played at the South African top level (NSL)
for six seasons during Transkei's nominal independency from 1976 to
1994, managing 4 finishes in the top-7, and winning one League Cup, in 1993.
Clubs from Venda played in the South African football structure during
the homeland's nominal independency from 1979 to 1994.
In 1983, Black Leopards were founded in the capital Thohoyandou.
They had reached the second South African level by 1996, and won their
section (the Northern Stream) in 1996/97, but finished fourth and bottom
in the promotion playoff against the three other Stream winners, missing
out on one of the two promotion spots. They eventually were promoted to
the PSL in 2001 by winning the Inland Stream of the second level (which
by then had been reduced to two groups). Black Leopards were part
of the PSL until 2008, when they were relegated; in their seven seasons
at the top level, they twice finished eighth (2001/02 and 2003/04).
Their popularity was underlined by the fact that they participated in
four consecutive Telkom Charity Cups from 2002 to 2005; this is an
invitational 4-team tournament whose participants are decided by
popular vote. In their first participation in 2002, they lost the final
to Kaizer Chiefs on a penalty shoot-out.
Tanganyika gained independence in 1961, Zanzibar in 1963. In
1964 the two joined to form Tanzania. Since at least 1982 (but
possibly earlier), the best teams from both regions played for
the national championship in the so-called 'Union League'
(Ligi Kuu ya Muungano), usually comprising 4 or 6 clubs,
half from both areas. This competition was dominated by teams
from the 'Mainland' (Tanzania Bara - the term Tanganyika
has gotten out of usage), in particular the two giants from the
capital Dar es Salaam, Simba and Young Africans (popularly known
as Yanga). Only three times (from over 20 tries), a Zanzibar
club was crowned champions of the Union League. In 2004, Zanzibar
obtained independent membership of CAF, the African football
confederation, though FIFA later refused it full membership. The
Union League has not been held since 2003, when it wasn't finished
due to a legal farce initiated by Yanga. (There was talk
to organise one in April 2007, between the top-2 clubs of both
CAF members in the 2006 season, but this never happened.)
Zanzibar clubs have entered the
CAF club competitions independently since 2005, so that we consider
its champions since 2004 as 'independent'. Due to the dominance
of the Mainland clubs in the overall championship, we do not discuss
their performance separately but concentrate on the Zanzibar clubs.
Note that both the championship and cup tournaments tended to be
decided in a playoff (Union League (Ligi Kuu ya Muungano)
for the championship, Nyerere Cup for the knock-out competition)
between a few (2 to 4) teams from both the
Mainland and Zanzibar (i.e. Unguja and Pemba), after both areas
had held their own independent league and cup competitions.
Shortly after its independence, the formerly British colony of
India was split (in 1948) into India and Pakistan. (Nothing is
known about performances by clubs from cities currently in
Pakistan or Bangladesh in the Indian national football tournaments
of the time.)
Pakistan consisted of two regions, separated by India; at the end
of 1971, Bangladesh (formerly known as East Pakistan) gained
independence.
Until the secession of Bangladesh, the capital of East Pakistan,
Dacca (currently spelled Dhaka) hosted the national championship
of Pakistan 3 times (in 1952, 1957 and 1962), as did the currently
Bangladeshi cities of Jessore (1968) and Comilla (1969/70).
On 4 occasions the tournament was won by a team from current Bangladesh.
As the teams from (West) Pakistan dominated football in the country
(in total, 20 championships were contested between 1948 and 1971),
no separate mention is made of their successes.
The independent state of Malaysia obtained its current shape in 1965,
when Singapore left the Federation; it had joined only two years before,
together with Sarawak and Sabah (formerly British North Borneo) on
the island of Borneo (or Kalimantan as it is known in Indonesian).
In the first six years of independence, since 1957, the Federation
of Malaya (its name until 1963) had only comprised the current
territory of Malaysia on the Asian continent. Brunei (which lies in
between Sarawak (which had belonged to the sultan of Brunei until 1888)
and Sabah) never belonged to Malaysia (it was a British protectorate
though), but it did (and does) enter the
Malaysian football structure.
Competitions in Malaysia (both the traditional cup tournament
(Piala Malaya, first played 1921 and later renamed Piala HMS
and (since 1967) Piala Malaysia) and the league, which was not
established until 1982) were traditionally played by representations of
the regional FAs; in addition several 'service' teams (Tentera, an
Army/Navy combination, Combined Services, Prisons) regularly entered.
The first 'other' teams (apart from the occasional participation of
Malaysia's olympic team) to enter the top division were Johor FC and
NS Chempaka, both making their first appearance in 2002. Johor FC had
made their debut appearance in the Piala Malaysia in 2000,
presumably as the first ever club team to enter the (first round of the)
tournament. So all honours below refer to the Singapore FA, and not a
'proper' club team.
Unfortunately, few data are available on any common Korean
football competition prior to the Korean War in the early 1950s.
In addition, information on North Korean football is very
sparse.
Additional data is very much welcomed.
The first nationwide tournament on the peninsula was the
All Joseon Football Championship, created in 1921, which
included up to four different categories ('middle', 'youth',
'elementary' and 'professional'; from 1934 on a 'general'
category was introduced, replacing 'youth'), though not all
were played for each season. Participants were school sides.
Winners from cities currently in North Korea included
Pyeongyang Athletic (winners of the 'youth' category in
1922 (the first of the two tournaments held that year)),
Pyeongyang Virtue School (winners of the 'elementary' category
in the years 1925, 1926 and 1927) and Pyeongyang FC (winners
of the 'general' category in 1934). Pyeongyang High School were
runners-up in the 'middle' category 1924. The tournament
was discontinued after 1940.
South Korea formed a professional league in 1983. Prior to that,
the main nationwide football competition was the
Amateur Adult Football Conference (AAFC), started in 1946
and dominated by army units, a number of universities and a
few company and factory teams. (See also the remarks on the
All Joseon Football Championship for school teams in the section
on North Korea above.)
It is unclear whether the early editions just after World War II
also had participants from the current North Korea;
among the AAFC finalists prior to to 1950, Songkyunkwan University
(runners-up in 1947 and 1948) won the same tournament in 1987, and
Yonhee University (winners in 1948 and runners-up in 1949)
won it as Yonsei University (following a 1957 merger between
two academic institutions) in 1984 and finished runners-up in
1974 and 1987. Jo-il Brewery (winners in 1946 and 1947)
and Joseon Dockyard (winners in 1949) reached the final
of the South Korean Presidents Cup after the war (Joseon
Dockyard finishing runners-up in 1952, 1953 and 1954,
Jo-il Brewery (from Incheon) winning in 1954). In this
competition, also
Songkyunkwan University (runners-up 1974 and 1985) and
Yonsei University (winners 1980 and 1989 and runners-up
1969 and 1997) reached the final. Only College
of Commerce, runners-up in 1946, did not reach the final
of either competition since the Korean War.
Information about football in both North Vietnam and South Vietnam
prior to their unification is very incomplete. The first common
competition was not held until 1980, a few years after political
unification. Below, all known data on championship winning sides
in both North and South Vietnam are listed, together with the
successes (if any) of the relevant clubs since unification.
Additional data is very much welcomed.
In 1990, North Yemen (official name since 1962: the Yemen Arab Republic),
which had been part of the Ottoman Empire until 1918, and South Yemen
(official name since 1970: People's Democratic Republic of Yemen), which
had been under British rule until 1967, unified. Below, clubs from both
regions which have won all-Yemen honours since 1990 are listed (and
additional data are given where known). Note that the city of Aden was
governed as
part of British India until 1937 before obtaining a separate status as
the 'Colony of Aden'; the hinterland of the city was known as
'Aden Protectorate'. In 1962 a British-controlled 'Federation of
South Arabia' (including Aden) was formed, with several Emirates
refusing to join this federation uniting in the 'Protectorate of
South Arabia'. In 1967, South Yemen became independent, with Aden
as capital.
The main cities in former North Yemen are Sanaa, Taizz, Hudaida and Ibb.
Clubs from Sanaa (the capital of unified Yemen) have dominated the
league championship, but clubs from the other towns have won occasional
honours as well. Among the various cup tournaments, we only consider
the President's Cup, the main competition, held since 1995.
The main cities in former South Yemen are Aden and Mukalla; clubs
from both towns have won occasional honours. Among the various cup
tournaments, we only consider the President's Cup, the main competition,
held since 1995. Nothing is known about separate competitions in
Aden during the period it was part of British India (until 1937)
or its separate colonial status (from 1937 to 1962); however,
local side Al-Tilal was founded in 1905 and may therefore have
played in such competitions.
Between 1958 and 1961, Egypt and Syria formed the "United
Arab Republic" (which also included the former North Yemen).
While Egypt already had a long football history by then,
next to nothing is known about Syrian football before 1960.
In fact, the first ever known cup winners in Syria are from
the 1959/60 season, and they were Cairo side Al-Ahly,
also known as National SC Cairo (the first Syrian league
championship apparently was not played for until the 1966/67
season, and it again went to Al-Ahly - but now their namesakes
from Aleppo).
No further details about that 1959/60 'Syrian' cup are available,
but it was a different tournament from the 'regular' Egyptian cup
that season, which was won by Al-Ahly's eternal rivals Zamalek,
who beat Alexandria club Olympic 3-2 in the final.
The territory now divided among Israel, the West Bank,
the Gaza Strip and Jordan was captured by the United
Kingdom from the Ottoman Empire in World War I. In 1923,
the area became known as the Mandate of Palestine, after
the League of Nations mandated the UK
to control the territory. In 1946, the part east of
Jordan river became the Kingdom of Transjordan (nowadays
commonly known as Jordan).
Below, the 1948/49 partition following the Arab-Israeli war
(or Al-Nakba, the Catastrophe, as it is known to
the Palestinians) is taken to define the borders between
"Israel" and "Palestine" (so the latter consists of the
West Bank including East Jerusalem as well as the Gaza Strip),
in spite of the fact that any future Palestinian state is
unlikely to consist of this territory.
Using the above definitions for British Palestine, Israel
and Palestine, we distinguish three periods since
the first World War: the British Mandate (British
Palestine) encompassing both current Israel and the
currently occupied territories (Palestine) until 1948
(as well as Jordan, which is not discussed here, until 1947);
the Jordan occupation (and subsequent annexation) of
the West Bank and the Egyptian occupation of the Gaza
Strip between 1948 and 1967; and the Israeli occupation
of both areas since 1967. So, there are sections on:
Israeli clubs in British Palestine until 1948,
Palestinian clubs in British Palestine until 1948,
Palestinian clubs in Jordan 1948-1967,
Palestinian clubs in Egypt 1948-1967, and
Palestinian clubs in Israel since 1967.
Note that the usage of "Israeli" in the section heading
is anachronistic; it is meant to refer to the current territory
of the state Israel; contemporary usage would have been "Hebrew"
or "Jewish".
The Palestine FA (which later turned into the current
Israeli FA) was established in 1928 and obtained
FIFA membership in 1929. In spite of the fact that Arabs
formed about three quarters of the population of British
Palestine at the time, they had no real influence in
the PFA. Of the 15 people on the initial PFA Board, only 1
was Arab (representing Jerusalem club Nadi Islami Al-Riyadhi,
the Islamic Sports Club), and he only attended the first
meeting of the board. Since then, no Arab ever participated
in a PFA board meeting. (A similar situation occurred in the
Palestine Olympic Committee formed in 1933.) The
league organised by the PFA consisted of 69 teams divided
over 3 divisions, of which 11 were Arab, none in the 10-team
first division (5 in the 20-team second division and 6 at
the third level). The British Palestine team participating
in the 1934 World Cup qualifiers (which lost to Egypt)
did not contain any Arab players;
likewise the team entering the 1938 World Cup qualifiers
(and losing to Greece) was exclusively Jewish, it being boycotted
by Arab Palestinians (both muslim and christian) and other
ethnic groups. In 1931 a rival organisation
was formed by Arabs, but it failed to obtain membership of FIFA.
As Jewish clubs dominated football in British Palestine,
we only list the honours won by the relevant clubs (as in
comparable cases in other parts of the world). All 9
championships between 1932 and 1947 in British Palestine
were won by currently Jewish clubs, with the exception of
the 1932 championship, which went to the British Police club.
Likewise, 14 of the 15 cup tournaments (as currently recognised by
the Israeli FA; there also were 6 tournaments from 1922 to 1927,
all won by British clubs, and 2 war cups in 1943 and 1944/45, the
first of which also won by a British club) were won by Jewish
clubs, with the only exception again being the British Police
in 1932, who were leading the final 1-0 when opponents
Hapoel Haifa walked off; in addition, the 1930 losing finalists
were the British Army 48th Troop. The (inaugural) 1928 cup was
shared as winners Hapoel Tel-Aviv had fielded an ineligible player.
Next to no information is available on the performances of the
Arab clubs playing in the PFA league structure,
and no information is available on clubs from the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank to play in the PFA league; the rival
Arab league discussed below had some member teams from the current
Gaza Strip and West Bank but nothing is known about their
performances (the relevant archives were lost during the
1948 Nakba).
Nadi Islami Al-Riyadhi from Jerusalem were represented in the
initial PFA board so presumably entered in the early 1930s.
According to a Palestinian source, at least three Arab clubs,
Nadi Al-Rawtha and Shabab Al-Arab from Jerusalem and Shabab Al-Arab
from Haifa, joined the PFA (directly?) after the 1936 dissolution
of the APSF (see below), with Shabab Al-Arab from Jerusalem playing
in the first division for (at least) one season (as the only Arab club
to ever do so prior to the 1948 Nakba), but this is
apparently incorrect. Israeli sources do not mention either of the
two aforementioned Jerusalem clubs and Shabab Al-Arab
from Haifa never played in the top division; they list the following
Arab clubs in the PFA league structure between 1936 and 1948, all
playing in the 1942 season only which was organised in three regional
leagues: Nadi Islami Haifa, Shabab Al-Arab Haifa, and
National Sport Club Jaffa; in addition an Armenian
club, Homenetmen (Jerusalem) played from 1940 to 1942 (and won the
Jerusalem regional league in 1942 but refused to play Tel-Aviv
champions Maccabi Tel-Aviv for the championship).
As Arabs had next to no influence within the PFA, they
founded a rival organisation, the Arab Palestinian Sports Federation
(APSF), in 1931. This organised a league (about which nothing is known)
until 1936, the year of the revolt against British rule. A
league resumed in 1944, consisting of 6 regions with 45
clubs, from Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Jafa (Jaffa) to
Al-Khalil (Hebron).
The regional champions qualified for the final round of the
Palestine Championship. The first winners, in 1945, were
Nadi Islami Jafa (from Jaffa), beating Al-Orthodox from
Jerusalem in the final; the 1946 and 1947 titles both went to
Shabab Al-Arab from Haifa.
No further data are known, apart from a number of participating
clubs (including the three mentioned):
in Al-Quds (Jerusalem): Nadi Al-Ahly (National), Al-Dajani Club,
Al-Orthodox and Jamia Al-Shaban Al-Masihe
(Young Men's Christian Association, YMCA);
in Jafa (Jaffa): Nadi Islami Jafa (Jafa Islamic Club) and
Al-Orthodox;
and in Haifa: Nadi Islami Haifa (Haifa Islamic Club), Nadi
Shabab Al-Arab (Arab Youth Club), Nadi Al-Tersana (Arsenal)
and Homenetmen (an Armenian club).
Teams were also formed in other cities, such as Gaza
(Nadi Gaza Al-Riyadhi (founded 1934), Al-Arabi (founded 1938)
and Al-Orthodox (founded 1944))
and Al-Nasreh (Nadi Al-Nahda (Renaissance Club)).
Other member clubs existed in
Nablus, Tulkarm (both on the West Bank (as per current usage; pre-1948
'West Bank' denoted the entire area between Mediterranean and Jordan river)),
Akko (Acre) and Beir Al-Saba (Beersheba).
The Comoros archipelago consists of four main islands: Ngazidja
(known as Grande Comore in French), Nzwani (Anjouan in
French), Mwali (Mohéli in French) and Mahoré (Mayotte
in French).
It was a French colony until 1975, when three of the four
declared their independence as the Udzima wa komori
(Union des Comores); the fourth island, Mayotte, opted to
remain part of the French state as an overseas department. Prior
to this split, various domestic tournaments were organised on the
Comoros involving clubs or representations from Mayotte.
Between 1970 and 1973 a tournament between the champions of
the various islands was organised by the sports ministry of
the Comoros. No results or winners are known, but participants
from Mayotte in this tournament included Rafale and
Soleil de Labattoir.
The Dutch colony in the Caribbean, the Netherlands Antilles,
consisted of six islands, three near the coast of Venezuela,
the Benedenwindse Eilanden (Leeward Islands) of Aruba,
Bonaire and Curaçao, and three near the Atlantic
Ocean, the Bovenwindse Eilanden (Windward Islands)
of Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten (the latter island
'shared' with France). The clubs from the
Bovenwindse Eilanden never participated in the
overall championship playoffs, but the three
Benedenwindse Eilanden organised the Kopa Antiano
at the end of each season until 1986, when Aruba obtained a
status aparte (it now also has separate membership of
CONCACAF and FIFA).
Afterwards, the tournament was played between clubs
from Bonaire and Curaçao only. The
Kopa Antiano has been dominated by clubs from
Curaçao, the largest island in both surface area
and population, but two Aruban clubs have
won the title. As there are far advanced plans to
reorganise the colony, with Curaçao and Sint Maarten
obtaining a similar status aparte and the other
three islands obtaining a municipal status (becoming an
'ordinary' Dutch gemeente), we also list the best
(known) performances of Bonaire clubs in the tournament.
None of them ever won the championship, but several
reached (and lost) finals (note that not all losing
finalists are known).
Clubs from Aruba entered the Kopa Antiano up to and including
the 1985 edition, winning on three occasions, and losing at least
two finals (not all runners-up are known). All three clubs
mentioned below have won titles on Aruba since the introduction
of the status aparte in 1986: Estrella eight (1988, 1989, 1990,
1992, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2006), RCA (Racing Club Aruba)
six (1986, 1987, 1991, 1994, 2002 and 2008) and Dakota one
(1995).
Those three clubs also won all titles on Aruba between 1960
and 1985, with the exception of 1975 (champions Bubali) and
1984 (champions San Luis Deportivo).
French Northern Africa |
French Western Africa |
North and South Rhodesia |
Stanley Pool
During the colonial era, various currently independent regions
shared a 'domestic' football competition. Above, a few examples
are given (and discussed in more detail below), with no pretence
of completeness.
French Northern Africa consisted (roughly) of the area of the
current states Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. During colonial
times, this area was divided into 5 regions, Alger,
Constantine, Maroc, Oran and Tunis.
These 5 areas had regional football championships and cup tournaments,
with the best teams entering an overall competition; for further
details see the sections on the
North African Champions Cup
and the
North African Cup. Also
note the section on clubs from Algeria,
Morocco and Tunisia
playing in the French cup.
French Western Africa consisted (roughly) of the area of the
current states Benin (then Dahomey), Burkina Faso (then
Haute-Volta), Guinea (Guinée), Ivory Coast
(Côte d'Ivoire), Mali (then Soudan), Mauritania
(Mauritanie), Niger and Senegal (Sénégal).
These areas had regional football championships and cup tournaments,
with the best teams entering an overall competition created in 1947;
teams from Mauritania did not enter, but teams from Togo (although
official not part of French Western Africa) entered the later editions;
for further details see the section on the
Coupe d'Afrique Occidentale Française.
Between 1962 and 1965, the winners of the Castle Cups in North
Rhodesia (now Zambia) and South Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) played
off for the
Inter-Rhodesia Castle Cup.
Note that between 1953 and 1963, these two regions formed the
Central African Federation together with Nyasaland (the modern
state of Malawi).
In 1961, a professional
league comprising clubs from all three regions (among which Nyasa
United from Blantyre (now in Malawi), City of Lusaka from current
Zambia and Salisbury United from current Harare, Zimbabwe), was
organised, but it was aborted after a few matches.
The cities of Brazzaville (in the Republic of Congo, formerly a
French colony and often referred to as Congo-Brazzaville in this
archive) and Léopoldville (currently called Kinshasa and the
capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly a Belgian
colony and often referred to as Congo-Kinshasa in this archive)
are on opposite sides of a lake in the Congo River, called
Stanley Pool in colonial times (its current name is Malebo Pool).
The clubs of these two capital cities formed the
Fédération de Football Association du Pool, which organised
common championships and cup tournaments during the colonial era.
For further
details see the sections on the
Stanley Pool Championship
and the
Stanley Pool Cup.
Austria |
Poland |
Germany |
Finland |
Hungary |
Armenia |
Yugoslavia |
Italy |
Netherlands
The Austrian part of the Habsburg Empire contained regions
now in the Czech Republic (Bohemia and Moravia), Poland
(Galicia), Ukraine (Galicia and Bukovina) and Romania
(Bukovina).
The Österreichische Fussball-Verband (founded in
1904 as successor of the Österreichische Fussball-Union)
awarded first class status to a number of clubs from Bohemia
(mostly from Prague, one from Teplice/Teplitz) and one from
current Poland (Cracow). This had mostly prestige value as
no organised top level league competition existed outside of
Vienna (and even there only intermittently: the
Tagblatt-Pokal
from 1900 to 1903 and the official league from 1911 onwards).
A number of Czech clubs entered the
Challenge Cup,
held from 1897 to 1911, a competition open to all clubs from
the Habsburg Empire but with origin and centre in Vienna.
Czech Republic |
Poland |
Ukraine
The following Czech clubs enjoyed
first class
status as
granted by the Österreichische Fussball-Verband:
Deutscher FC Prag (since 1904; see also their earlier
adventure in Germany), Sparta Praha
(1904-1906), Slavia Praha (1905-1906) and Teplitzer FK
(since 1909). Note that Sparta and Slavia joined the
Ceský Svaz Fotballový (CSF) in 1906.
In the region of Galicia, nowadays divided
between Poland and the Ukraine, a
football organisation, the Galician
Football Union, was founded on June 25, 1911, and became an
autonomous member of the Austrian football federation on
September 3, 1911.
In the same year, Cracovia from Kraków obtained
first class
status from the Österreichische Fussball-Verband.
In 1913, a first Galician
championship authorised by the Austrian football federation
was organised with four clubs, 2 from Kraków and 2 from Lwów;
the two Kraków clubs finished first and second.
In the region of Galicia, nowadays divided
between Poland and the Ukraine, a
football organisation, the Galician
Football Union, was founded on June 25, 1911, and became an
autonomous member of the Austrian football federation on
September 3, 1911. In 1913, the club ST Ukraine from Lwów
(ST = Sportivne Tovaristvo or sports comrades) joined the
Austrian football federation; in the same year a first Galician
championship authorised by the Austrian football federation
was organised with four clubs, 2 from Kraków and 2 from Lwów.
A championship of the Bukovina (nowadays divided between Romania
and the Ukraine) was already played in 1908.
When Poland was recreated after the first World War, it obtained
various regions east of its current borders, which now lie in
Lithuania (mainly the region around the current capital Vilnius,
Wilno in Polish), Belarus (including cities such as
Brest/Brześć, Hrodna/Grodno and Pinsk/Pińsk)
and the Ukraine (including cities such as Lviv/Lwów/Lemberg,
Lutsk/Łuck, Rivne/Równe and Ivano-Frankivsk/Stanisławów).
In particular the clubs from Lwów played an important role in
Polish football: when the first 'nationwide' Polish league
was created in 1927, 3 of its 14 participants came from Lwów,
as many as Warszawa (Warsaw) had, and more than for instance
Kraków and Łódź (both 2). Before, Pogoń Lwów
had won four consecutive Polish championships (1922 to 1926;
no championship was organised in 1924 due to preparations for the
Olympic Games in Paris) and Sparta Lwów had reached the first
Polish cup final in 1926 (the only cup tournament organised
in Poland prior to 1950).
No clubs from current Belarus reached the first division of the
Polish league (or the latter stages of the national championship
playoffs in the early seasons in which no national league was
organised). One club reached the final stage (last 4) of the
second division promotion playoffs, on two occasions:
82 pp Brześć in 1930 (they finished third; the playoff
was won by Lechia Lwów who were promoted) and 1931 (when they
lost 1-4, 1-3 to 22 pp Siedlce in the semifinals).
Other clubs from the region to have entered
the regional playoffs of the second division (played in 4 groups
of 3 or 4 clubs each) are: 4 dspanc. Brześć,
WKS Brześć, Ruch Brześć and Pogoń Brześć;
Cresovia Grodno, WKS Grodno and 76 pp Grodno;
and Kotwica Pińsk and KPW Ognisko Pińsk.
As an aside, note that the Polish region around Białystok
(Belastok in Belarussian, Belostok in Russian)
was occupied by the Soviet Union from
1939 to 1944 and as such part of the Belarussian
Soviet Socialist Republic. No information on
football activities during this period is available.
Five clubs based in Wilno, currently as Vilnius the capital
of Lithuania, played one season at the Polish top
level. Two other clubs from the city reached the regional playoffs
of the second division (played in 4 groups of 3 or 4 clubs each):
Ognisko Wilno and Makkabi Wilno.
Clubs from towns and cities currently in the Ukraine
played an important role in Polish football before
the second World War. Before the introduction of a nationwide
league in 1927 (an initial 5-team league was also played in 1921),
Pogoń Lwów
won 4 national championships; 4 different
clubs from Lwów played one or more seasons in the first division
(Pogoń entering each and every one of them),
and a fifth reached the final of the only Polish cup tournament
held prior to 1950. Various clubs from other towns reached the
later stages of the second level promotion playoffs:
Sokół Równe, WKS Hallerczyk Równe and Hasmonea Równe;
Policyjny KS Łuck (who reached the final 4-team playoff in 1938,
finishing fourth and last);
Junak Drohobycz (who reached the final 4-team playoff in 1939, which
was abandoned after 2 from 6 rounds due to the war);
Rewera Stanisławów (who reached the second level semifinals in 1934,
losing 0-5, 1-0 to Śląsk Świętochłowice)
and Strzelec Górka Stanisławów;
Pogoń Stryj; and
Strzelec Janowa Dolina, from a basalt mining village on the
Horyń/Horyn river near Kostopol/Kostopil, destroyed
by Ukrainian nationalists in April 1943.
Denmark |
France |
Lithuania |
Poland |
Russia
The region just north of the current
Danish-German border, Nordschleswig (in German)
or Sønderjylland (in Danish),
belonged to the German Reich until 1920.
The main towns in the region are Aabenraa (also written
Åbenrå - this is the correct spelling since 1948
but locally the old spelling is preferred; the German name
is Apenrade), Haderslev (Hadersleben), Ribe (Ripen),
Sønderborg
(Sonderburg) and Tønder (Tondern).
No clubs from the region participated in the
later stages of the German championship tournaments, but
regional championships were held. Clubs to have been
founded when the region belonged to Germany include:
Svensk Gymnastikforening (in Haderslev, 1891),
Haderslev Fodsports Club (in the summer of 1901),
Haderslev FK (July 14, 1906; possibly as Haderslebener
Fussball Club), Toftlund Idrætsforening (June 7, 1908),
Ribe BK (May 17, 1917; they reached the second round of
the Danish Cup 1960/61) and Sønderborg BK (1919;
they reached the second round of the Danish Cup 1957/58,
1962/63 and 1978/79 before merging with UI Ulkebøl into
UIU/Sønderborg (reached the second round of the Danish
Cup 1990/91) and then with Ulkebøl BK into
SUB Sønderborg (reached the third round of the Danish
Cup in 1991/92)).
Aabenraa BK (reached the 1/8 finals of the Danish Cup
1964/65, 1971/72 and 1988/89) and Tønder SF (reached the
third round, then the last before the 1/8 finals, of the Danish
Cup 1971/72) were founded in 1920, the year the region became
German (though football is reported to have been played in
Tønder as early as 1865).
Haderslev FK won the regional championship
of Sønderjylland in 1908 (with an 11-1 win over
Sønderborg; this club possibly was a forerunner of
Sønderborg BK, now SUB Sønderborg) and 1910 (beating
Skarve IF in the final). Haderslev FK reached the 1/8 finals
(round of 16) of the Danish Cup in 1955/56 and won their first
ever promotion to the Danish first division (Superligaen)
in 2000; during the winter break of their first season in the
top flight, 2000/01, the club changed name to HFK Sønderjylland
(technically, a 'superstructure' was formed and Haderslev FK
resumed playing at amateur level). HFK Sønderjylland were
relegated in 2001 but returned to the top flight
in 2005/06, now playing as SønderjyskE (name change in 2003;
this club reached the 1/8 finals of the Danish Cup in 2004/05,
2006/07 and 2007/08), and again suffering immediate relegation;
they were promoted again at the end of the 2007/08 season.
Until the end of the first World War, the Elsaß (Alsace)
and Lothringen (Lorraine) regions were German, and
clubs from its main cities Straßburg/Strasbourg, Mülhausen/Mulhouse
(both Elsaß) and Metz (Lothringen)
played in the southern German Verband süddeutscher Fußballvereine.
Until 1903, only a regional championship was played, and the
Straßburger FV
won it twice around the turn of the century. No club from the region could
do so afterwards, and so none ever qualified for the German championship
playoffs. After the first World War, the area came to France, before
briefly returning to Germany during the
second World War.
The Lithuanian city of Klaipėda was founded as Memel in 1250
and belonged to the German Reich until 1923, when Lithuania
annexed the area around the city. Clubs from Klaipėda entered
the Lithuanian league between 1924 and 1939 (when Germany invaded
the area again), but also entered the German league structure
in various seasons; the SpVgg. Memel twice reached the final stage
of the championship of the Baltenverband (which also included
many areas on the now Polish coast and the Russian exclave
Kaliningrad/Königsberg), from which the winners qualified for the
German championship playoffs. Note that the club also played
in the Lithuanian league structure (as Spielvereinigung
Klaipėda) during this time, finishing second in the
Klaipėda group in 1928 (winners KSS, who eventually claimed
the championship in a final round with other regional group
winners), third in 1929 (winners again KSS, who again claimed
the Lithuanian championship as well; second were Freya Klaipėda
who later entered the Sportbereich 1 Ostpreußen
during the war) and second again in 1930 (again behind KSS
who once more claimed the national title).
In 1931, a national league was formed in Lithuania (as opposed
to the regional groups played between 1924 and 1930); in this,
Freya Klaipėda played for two seasons (finishing 3rd in 1931
and 7th in 1932) and the Spielvereinigung Klaipėda for one
(finishing 5th in 1933).
Below we list all appearances of Memel clubs in the Endrunde
of the Baltenverband, and in the
Sportbereich 1 Ostpreußen (formerly
Gauliga Ostpreußen) during the war.
In this section all performances in the German championship playoffs
by clubs from towns and cities currently in Poland, but part of Germany
before World War II, are listed. For clubs in areas of Poland conquered
by Germany during World War II, see the section on occupations.
Note that this section, as a matter of convenience, also includes
Danzig, which was formally autonomous between the two World Wars
as Freistaat Danzig and as such comparable to
the Free State of Trieste after
World War II.
We split the period in question into two
parts - before and after 1933; not directly for political reasons,
but because the Nazi government of the German Reich
reorganised the football structure that year, introducing fifteen
Gauligen to replace the regional federations which each
had their own championship systems, and adding a group stage to
the national championship playoff (which had been entirely
knock-out based until then).
Five clubs from the region reached the semifinals of the
German championship: Titania Stettin and
Breslauer Sportfreunde both in 1920,
Breslauer SC in 1929 (all lost their semifinal ties
to the then leading clubs from the Franconian agglomeration
Nürnberg/Fürth) and
Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz (the strongest club
from the region during the nazi regime) in 1936; in addition,
an army side, Heeres SV Groß Born, did so during the
war (1944). TuS Lipine reached the semifinals of the
1942 cup.
In this section all performances in the German championship playoffs
by clubs from towns and cities currently in Russia, but part of Germany
before World War II, are listed.
The best performance by any club from the region was the
semifinal appearance of VfB Königsberg in the 1923
championship.
The historical region of Karelia (Karjala in Finnish)
comprises a large area, part of which is now in Finland
(main cities Joensuu and Lappeenranta), and part in Russia.
The part belonging to Finland was larger before the second
World War, during which the Soviet Union annexed the Karelian
Isthmus (Karjalan Kannas), with as main city Viipuri/Vyborg,
and Ladoga Karelia, including Sortavala. (Finnish troops reconquered
most of the area at some time during the war but eventually Finland
had to cede it to the Soviet Union afterwards.)
From 1941 to 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR formed the
16th Soviet Socialist Republic; in 1956 it was 'relegated'
to an ASSR (autonomous SSR), the Karelian ASSR, thereby losing
its constitutional secession right. It should be mentioned that
Russians always formed the (clear) majority of the population in
the relevant area, Karelians and Finns forming a minority of
around 10%.
Sortavala clubs never played above the second Finnish
league level (SoPS, i.e. Sortavalan Palloseura in 1938 and 1939,
and SP, i.e. Sortavalan Palloilijat in 1935, 1936, 1938 and 1939).
In the late nineties, FK Sortavala and Metallurg Värtsila played
in the Finnish league structure as guests.
Apart from the three Viipuri clubs to have reached the first
Finnish level (and discussed below), we also mention:
Austria |
Romania |
Serbia |
Slovakia |
Ukraine
At the end of the first World War, the map of Europe was
changed considerable compared to how it had looked before,
in particular due to the dissolution of the multi-ethnic
Habsburg Empire. Hungary was affected in particular.
In footballing terms, this did not
make too much difference, as the Budapest championship had
dominated proceedings entirely. Until 1926, the top flight
was a 'tramway league' restricted to the capital (the same
applied to the other Habsburg capital city, Vienna, even
longer). However, theoretically other clubs could have won
the Hungarian title: there were a (varying) number of
regional championships in the country, whose winners played
off for the title of provincial champions (Vidéki Bajnok);
this club could then challenge the Budapest champions for the
Hungarian title. However, the match had to be in Budapest,
which caused financial difficulties for the would-be challengers.
Prior to the first World War, only one club tried - Kassai AC,
from the currently Slovak city of Košice, challenged
Ferencváros in 1909 - and lost heavily.
The Burgenland (Őrvidék or Felsőőrvidék in
Hungarian, Gradišće in Croatian), a province (Land)
in Austria, is named after 4 formerly Hungarian administrative
divisions (Komitaten), all named after their main towns,
burgen (all were built around castles):
Pressburg (Bratislava, Pozsóny, the current capital of Slovakia),
Wieselburg (Moson in Hungarian, nowadays part of the Hungarian
city Mosonmagyaróvár after merging with Magyaróvár
(Ungarisch-Altenburg) in 1939),
Ödenburg (Sopron in Hungary) and Eisenburg (Vasvár in Hungary)).
The area belonged to the Hungarian part of the Habsburg monarchy,
and only came to Austria in 1921, though without the intended
capital Ödenburg/Sopron, which remained Hungarian following a
controversial referendum (so currently all four 'burgen' are
outside the 'Austrian' Burgenland).
The probably oldest club from the area, SC Eisenstadt, who played
in the Austrian top level for 13 seasons between 1967 and 1987 and
won the 1984 Mitropa Cup, was founded 1907 (according to other
sources: 1914) as Kismarton FC, and played in regional Hungarian
competitions in their first years of existence. As both the
first and the second Hungarian level were restricted to Budapest
at the time (just as the Austrian top two levels were restricted
to Vienna), unfortunately no further data are available.
Clubs from currently Romanian cities entered the eastern regional
championship (played in various zones in later seasons);
clubs from the currently Romanian cities Arad, Cluj, Oradea
and Timişoara won regional championships, but
no club from the region won the overall provincial championship.
For performances of clubs
in currently Romanian cities in the Hungarian league structure during
the second world war, see the section on occupations.
Among the clubs listed below, Nagyváradi AC later won a
Hungarian championship (as the first club from outside Budapest)
during the second World War and later
also claimed a Romanian championship as IC Oradea; they also
were Romanian runners-up in 1923/24, losing the final to
Chinezul Timişoara - which was the Romanian name
of Temesvári Kinizsi; this club won six consecutive Romanian
championships between 1921/22 and 1926/27.
Clubs from currently Serbian cities entered the southern regional
championship; thrice, a club from current Subotica won the
regional championship; no club
from the region won the overall provincial championship.
For performances of clubs
in currently Serbian cities in the Hungarian league structure during
the second world war, see the section on occupations.
Clubs from currently Slovak cities entered the northern regional
championship; clubs from current Košice and Prešov
won the northern regional championship, and Kassai AC twice
claimed the overall provincial championship. On one
occasion, Kassai AC challenged Budapest champions Ferencváros
for the national title but lost 0-11. For performances of clubs
in currently Slovak cities in the Hungarian league structure during
the second world war, see the section on occupations.
Clubs from cities in Carpathian Ruthenian (Karpatáljá), a
region currently belonging to the Ukraine,
presumably entered the
northern regional championship; none ever won a regional championship.
For performances of clubs in currently Ukrainian cities in the Hungarian league structure during
the second world war, see the section on occupations.
Formally, the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, formerly an autonomous
region within the
Azerbaijani Socialist Soviet Republic, belongs
to Azerbaijan, but it is controlled by the Armenian military
since 1994, after a war between the two newly independent
countries, and is de facto independent. Two clubs
originally from Stepanakert, the main city of the region,
moved to Yerevan to play in the Armenian league.
In 1945, the city of Trieste/Trst was split between
Italy and Yugoslavia (specifically, the
Slovenian republic); in 1947, the two parts were reunited as
'Free State of Triest' (which also included nearby towns such as
Buje (Buie in Italian), Dekani (Villa Decani), Izola (Isola),
Koper (Capodistria), Piran (Pirano) and Umag (Umago)) before the
city returned to Italy in 1954 (the other towns mentioned came to
Yugoslavia and are now in Croatia (Buje, Umag) or Slovenia (Dekani,
Izola, Koper, Piran)).
During the interbellum, Italy included regions of current
Slovenia and Croatia; clubs from the currently Croatian cities
Rijeka (Fiume) and Pula (Pola) therefore entered the Italian
competitions (the Free State of Fiume was annexed by Italy in
1924, the other relevant regions in 1921). None of these clubs
ever reached the Serie A since its inauguration as a one-group
national top level in 1929/30, but US Fiumana were a top
level club in 1928/29. They were founded in 1926, as a merger
between Gloria Fiume and Olimpia Fiume, who both played at the
second level 1925/26. Fiumana played at the second level in
the seasons 1926/27, 1927/28 and 1929/30, when they dropped out
of Serie B; Grion Pola (full name Gruppo Sportivo Fascio
Giovanni Grion Pola) suffered relegation from the third to the
fourth level in the same season (they had been a second level
club in 1928/29, but were relegated due to the reorganisation
of the Italian football structure). Grion Pola then managed two
consecutive promotions to reach the Serie B in 1932/33;
in their third season there (1934/35), they withdrew at the
halfway stage. The last appearance of a club from current Croatia
at the second Italian level occurred during the second World War,
Fiumana playing in the Serie B for one season (1941/42).
Both clubs also participated in the earlier seasons of the Italian
cup (as did another Rijeka club, CS Fiume (who also had played at
the second level 1928/29), in the abandoned 1926/27
competition), with the highlight being three appearances in the
round of 32 and one in the round of 16 by Fiumana.
After the war, Fiumana gave rise to Kvarner Rijeka, founded
1946 and renamed NK Rijeka in 1954. As such it won 2
Yugoslav and 2 Croatian cups.
During the interbellum, Italy included regions of current
Slovenia and Croatia. Among the currently Slovenian towns,
Izola (Isola) boasted a third level club: Ampelea (founded
1923 as CCG Isola d'Istria (Club Calcistico Giovanile)
and renamed after their sponsors in the thirties) played in
the Serie C for six seasons, from 1937/38 to 1942/43.
The city of Trieste came to Italy after the first World War; it
had earlier belonged to the Habsburg monarchy. After the second
World War, the city was first split between Italy and Yugoslavia
before it was made 'independent' in 1947 as the
Free State of Trieste (also known as Free Territory of Trieste).
This state also included various nearby towns, including some now
in Slovenia (Dekani/Villa Decani, Izola/Isola, Koper/Capodistria,
Piran/Pirano) and Croatia (Buje/Buie, Umag/Umago). The city
of Trieste itself was reunified and returned to Italy in 1954.
The main football club from the city, Triestina,
played in the Serie A for 27 seasons between 1929 and 1959: 14
before or during World War II and 13 since 1946, including all 7
seasons of the existence of the Free State of Trieste (another
club, Poncijana Trst, played 3 seasons in the top
Yugoslav league division). Below, we only
include the 7 league finishes between 1947 and 1954, as Triestina
were a 'normal' Italian club in their other 20 Serie A seasons
(with the exception of 1946/47, when they were forced to play
their home matches outside of Trieste, the city being occupied
by Anglo-American troops; because of this, the club were spared
relegation in spite of having finished 20th and last that season).
Their best ever league finish was their second place in 1947/48
(shared with Milan and Juventus, but 16 points behind champions
Torino). In their other 26 seasons, they never finished higher
than 6th (1935/36 and 1937/38). They also never reached the
Italian cup final, and currently play in Serie B.
After the second World War, various border 'corrections' were
made between (West) Germany and its neighbouring countries.
One case is that of various villages near the Dutch-German
border, which belonged to the Netherlands between 1949 and
1963, when they were returned to (West) Germany. The
following 5 clubs played at the lower levels of the Dutch
amateur football structure during that time:
FC Fortuna Elten, SV Hoengen (also spelled Höngen), VfR Tüddern,
FC Viktoria Schalbruch and FC Wanderlust Süsterseel. Elten is
just west of Emmerich
and played in the afdeling Gelderland in the seasons not
listed below, while the other 4 clubs are from villages in the
Selfkant, the region just east of Sittard, and played in
the afdeling Limburg during the seasons not listed below.
England |
Wales |
Scotland |
(All) Ireland |
(Republic of) Ireland |
Greece |
Turkey |
Austria |
Switzerland |
Spain |
Italy |
France |
Germany |
Poland |
Lithuania |
Latvia |
Finland |
Sweden |
Thailand |
Malaysia |
Singapore |
Australia |
Hongkong |
China |
Philippines |
Maldives |
Chile |
Surinam |
Guyana |
USA
Northern Ireland |
Scotland |
Wales
Three Belfast clubs entered the FA Cup (first round proper) in the
late nineteenth century. Two once reached the round of 32, only
to suffer double digit defeats once there. The
third Irish club to enter were Linfield in 1888/89, drawing 2-2 at
home to Nottingham Forest (who thereby hold the unique record of
having played FA Cup ties in all four 'home' countries - they played
Queen's Park in Edinburgh in 1885 and Cardiff City away in 1922) in
the first round and scratching before the replay.
In the early years of the FA Cup, Scottish clubs could enter, and in
particular Queen's Park
came close to collecting the trophy on a few
occasions; in 1872 and 1873 they scratched due to travelling costs.
We list all Scottish clubs to have reached the round of 16.
In 1877, Queen's Park were among the last 10 clubs in the
competition (without playing a match - their 0-0 draw at home to
Wanderers in 1872 was the only FA Cup match they played until
beating Crewe Alexandra 10-0 away in 1883). Apart from the
three clubs (Queen's Park, Rangers and Partick Thistle) listed
below, four more Scottish clubs entered the FA Cup (first round
proper) in the late nineteenth century: Cowlairs (they entered
once, in 1886/87, losing 2-3 to Rangers in the third round,
after beating Darwen Old Wanderers 4-1 and Rossendale 10-2,
both away, and never lost to an English club in the tournament),
Heart of Midlothian, Renton and Third Lanark. The 1886/87 season
saw all these seven clubs enter the first round proper.
In 1899, Queen's Park were chosen as the best amateur team of the
country to compete for the Sheriff of London (Dewar) Shield, the
precursor of the FA Charity Shield (nowadays FA Community Shield).
It was the only time in the ten contests for this trophy between
1898 and 1907 that Corinthians were not chosen as the amateur
representatives. Queen's Park justified their selection by holding
English (professional) champions Aston Villa to a 0-0 draw, meaning
both clubs retained the shield for six months.
Traditionally, Welsh clubs have played in the English professional football
structure, while English clubs were invited to enter the
Welsh Cup. The FA of Wales did not set up a Welsh
first level league until 1992, urged by the desire to obtain representation
in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup (until then, Welsh clubs had only
entered the Cup Winners' Cup). The major Welsh clubs refused to join and
remained active in the English structure, where some of them had achieved
a measure of success: Cardiff City won the FA Cup and once
missed out on the English championship on goal average (they would
have won it had the tie-breaker at the time been goal difference
(and then goals scored), as it is now).
Many others have played in the various amateur
leagues of the English league pyramid; some are still active
there while others decided to enter the Welsh structure within
a few years after the foundation of the League of Wales, such as
Caernarfon Town, who did so in 1995 after playing alongside
Scottish club Gretna (and 19 or 20 English ones) in the
First Division
(second level) of the Northern Premier League (overall the seventh
level in the English league pyramid), making this division the
temporary home for clubs from three different UEFA members,
probably unique.
The heyday of Welsh clubs in the FA Cup was the decade after the
Great War, when they were represented by one or two clubs in the
round of 16 annually and Cardiff City took the trophy out of
England for the only time ever in 1927. We list all appearances
of Welsh clubs among the last 16. In 1877/78, Druids reached
the third round, which involved only 11 clubs (considered
1/6 finals below); in 1884/85 there was one
intermediate round consisting of one tie between the fourth round
and the quarterfinals, so we consider that fourth round (which
involved 17 clubs) to be equivalent to the 1/8 finals.
Apart from the six clubs who reached that stage, the following
Welsh clubs entered the first round proper at least once:
Aberdare Athletic, Bangor City, Barry Town, Caernarfon Town,
Caernarfon Wanderers, Colwyn Bay, Llanelli, Llangollen,
Lovell's Athletic, Merthyr Town, Merthyr Tydfil, Mold FC, Newtown,
Rhyl (reached the fourth round (1/16 finals) in 1956/57),
Ton Pentre (entered once, in 1986/87, losing their first round
tie to Cardiff City and so never met an English club in the
tournament proper) and Wrexham Olympic.
Apart from being the only non-English club ever to win the trophy,
Cardiff City hold the peculiar record of eliminating Leeds United
in three successive seasons in the third round (in which both
clubs entered the tournament) by an identical scoreline of 2-1:
on January 7, 1956, on January 5, 1957, and on January 4, 1958.
All three matches were played in Leeds. Groundhog (Satur)day
in January...
Welsh clubs reaching the quarterfinals of the League Cup or the
final of the League Trophy (for 3rd and 4th level clubs) are
listed separately below the FA Cup performances.
As 1927 FA Cup winners, Cardiff City were chosen to represent
the 'professionals' in the annual FA Charity Shield, which was
usually played between sides selected as best professional and
best amateur team at the time. They defeated the amateurs of
the Corinthians 2-1 to take that trophy out of England for only
the second time (after Queen's Park did so
for six months after drawing Aston Villa in the match for the
1899 Sheriff of London (Dewar) Shield, the immediate precursor
of the Charity Shield which was played along the same lines).
Clubs from nearby regions in England used to enter the FA of Wales
Cup, and won it on 21 occasions, including the last 8 editions prior
to the Second World War (and the first after it); in addition, on 27
occasions the losing finalists were from England.
Five finals were all-English affairs. Most successful were
Shrewsbury Town, who won 6 Welsh cups (in 9 final
appearances), followed by Chester (currently Chester City),
who won 3 (and lost 10 finals; their 13 final appearances are
the fifth highest total (shared with Druids) after Wrexham,
Cardiff City, Swansea City and Bangor City) and
Wellington Town (called Telford United since 1969).
Berwick Rangers played in English leagues until 1905, when they
entered the East of Scotland League. They were elected to the
Scottish league in 1951, and played 22 seasons at its second level,
from 1955/56 to 1974/75 and from 1979/80 to 1980/81.
Their best final placing at that level was sixth, in 1973/74.
They twice reached the quarterfinals of the Scottish FA Cup.
Before and just after the turn of the nineteenth to the
twentieth century, army regiments originally from England
or Scotland but stationed in Ireland
participated in the league and cup competities of the
Irish FA, then responsible for the entire island.
Two English army regiments entered the Irish league,
Lancashire Fusiliers and North Staffordshire Regiment;
another, Sherwood Foresters, never entered the league but
reached the cup final (as they were based in Kildare, now in
the Republic of Ireland, they are also mentioned in the
section on Irish Republic clubs in the
all-Irish football structure).
Two Scottish army regiments entered the Irish league,
Royal Scots Regiment and King's Own Scottish Borderers;
two others, Gordon Highlanders and The Black Watch,
never entered the league but reached the cup final (and
in the case of Gordon Highlanders even won it);
The Black Watch were based in Limerick, now in the Republic
of Ireland, they are also mentioned in the section on
Irish Republic clubs in the all-Irish
football structure).
When the FA of Ireland seceded from the Irish FA, one Belfast junior
league, the Belfast's Falls League (based on the Falls Road, the
city's Republican epicentre), affiliated to them. One of its clubs,
Alton United, won the second edition of the FAI Cup, in 1922/23;
in the previous season, another Belfast club, West Ham, had entered
the same tournament but lost in the first round to Shelbourne (the
tournament had only 11 participants and as Shelbourne had a bye in
the second round, West Ham can be considered to have been 1921/22
quarterfinalists). No Belfast clubs entered the tournament after
1923. It is unknown what happened to either the
Belfast's Falls League or the two clubs; presumably they still exist
in (Northern) Irish junior football.
Derry City played at the Northern Irish top level without
interruption from the 1929/30 season until 1971/72,
winning the league in 1964/65, the cup in 1949, 1954 and 1964,
and the Gold cup in 1965.
They were forced to leave the league in November 1972, after various
clubs had refused to play in Londonderry (the official, 'British'
and 'protestant' name of the city of Derry, as it is known to the
catholics and in the Republic of Ireland). They were elected (together
with 5 other clubs: Bray Wanderers, Cobh Ramblers, EMFA (later
renamed Kilkenny City), Monaghan
United and Newcastle United (later renamed Newcastlewest)) to
the newly formed second division
of the league in Ireland in 1985, earned promotion to the Irish top
flight in their second season, and have not been outside the top-10
of the Republic ever since, winning 2 league championships,
4 cups and a record 9 league cups.
For seven seasons, while Greece were ruled by a military junta,
the Cypriot league champions were admitted to the Greek first division
in the next season. They always finished on one of the relegation
spots, usually bottom, with the exception of APOEL, who
commendably placed 13th (of 18) in 1973/74.
However, that was the last season a Cypriot club entered the Greek
league, as 1974 saw both the Turkish invasion of the
island and the return of democracy
in Greece itself.
After the Greco-Turkish war between 1919 and 1922, the Treaty
of Lausanne signed in 1923 regulated the 'exchange of
populations' between Greece and Turkey, which involved the
expulsion of more than a million Greeks (c.q. christian
populations, in particular Greek orthodox) from Minor Asia
(in particular from Ionia (the region around Smýrna/İzmir),
Pontus (around Trapezoúnta/Trabzon and Sampsoúnta/Samsun),
Bithynia (Nikomédia/İzmit, Kalchedón/Kadıköy) and
Proúsa (Bursa))
and Eastern Thrace (which lies in Europe, main
city Adrianoúpolis/Edirne), and
from about half a million Turks (c.q. muslims) from Greece.
Prior to the treaty, many people had already fled as the
military exchanges had come too close to their homes.
As part of this tragedy, various football clubs founded by
the Greek communities in current Turkey moved across the
Aegean: GS Apollon Smyrni (from Smyrna) was re-established
in 1922 as GS Apollon Athina in Athens (the club was officially
renamed GS Apollon Smyrni in 2001), and Panionios from Smyrna
(founded 1890 as Orfeas Smyrni, renamed Panionios in 1898)
'transferred' to Athens in 1922 under the name
Panionios GS Smyrnis-Athinas (re-established as Neos Panionios
in 2003). (Similar club moves occurred at the end of the
Second World War from Viipuri/Vyborg in Karelia to Helsinki
and Lahti in Finland and
between the Turkish and Greek dominated parts of
Cyprus in the seventies.)
In later years, many Greeks from
Konstantinoúpolis/İstanbul, who had not been expelled as
part of the 1923 treaty, moved to Athens or Thessaloniki;
because of this, Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupolis
(AEK) were established in Athens in 1924, and
Panthessalonikio Athlitiko Omilo Konstantinoupolis (PAOK)
in Thessaloniki in 1926; both claim the heritage of nineteenth
century clubs from the Pera district in Constantinople, but
their 'continued' history is less evident as that of the two
Smyrna clubs Apollon and Panionios.
As prior to 1923 only city competitions were organised in
current Turkey (with Constantinople and Smyrna boasting the
strongest clubs), no data are available on the performances
of Apollon and Panionios prior to their (re-)foundation in
1922. In Greece, neither has ever won the championship, but
Panionios claimed the domestic cup in 1979 and 1998 (as well
as losing four cup finals), while Apollon reached the cup
final once, in 1996, only to suffer a record 1-7 defeat to AEK.
A number of Hungarian clubs entered the
Challenge Cup,
held from 1897 to 1911, a competition open to all clubs from
the Habsburg Empire but with origin and centre in Vienna.
In its first season of existence, FC Vaduz, founded in December 1931,
joined the Vorarlberger Fußballverband, the regional
football federation of Vorarlberg in the extreme west of Austria.
No results are known, they presumably played at the lowest (second?)
regional level. After one season, FC Vaduz moved west to join the
Swiss FA.
Büsingen am Hochrhein is a German exclave in Switzerland. Its football
club, FC Büsingen, was founded in 1924 and plays in the Swiss league
structure (Fussballverband Region Zürich). The highest level
they ever reached was the fourth Swiss level in 1973/74, after gaining
promotion from the 3. Liga (then the fifth level) to the
2. Liga (then the fourth level, below the Nationalliga A,
the Nationalliga B (both nationwide) and the 1. Liga
(organised in 3 regional groups)) at the end of the 1972/73 season.
They finished bottom in their first and last ever season at the
fourth level and never returned, currently (2008/09) playing
in the 4. Liga, nowadays the seventh level in the Swiss
league structure.
As Liechtenstein does not have its own league, all its (currently seven)
clubs play in the Swiss league structure (only FC Vaduz played one season
in a regional league in Austria).
None ever reached the Swiss top
flight, but FC Vaduz were a fixture in the Swiss second
level since earning promotion in 2001, reaching the 8-team promotion/relegation
group in 2002/03 (in which they finished 4th, traditionally the last promotion
spot but not in that season as the top flight was reduced from 12 to 10 clubs)
and the promotion/relegation playoff in 2003/04 and 2004/05. In 2007/08
they finally managed to obtain promotion to the Swiss top flight; their
adventure only lasted one season. In
the same season, a second Liechtenstein club, USV Eschen/Mauren, obtained
promotion to the third Swiss level, the 1. Liga.
Their lack of success in the Swiss Cup is due to the fact
that Liechtenstein clubs do not enter it.
As Liechtenstein cup winners, FC Vaduz played FC Basel in the UEFA Cup
2006/07, in the second qualifying round, and lost on the away goal rule
following a 0-1 loss away and a 2-1 win at home.
A club from Andorra has played at the third Spanish level,
and once came close to promotion to the second.
Andorra started its own national league in the nineties and meanwhile
qualify clubs for the UEFA club competitions,
but one club from the principality
has been entering the Spanish league structure for a long time.
FC Andorra played at the third Spanish level, the Segunda División B
(a level first organised in 1977; before the third level was played
in many regional groups),
for many seasons in the eighties and nineties, first
entering this division in 1980/81.
San Marino has its own championship since 1985, but a club
from the republic has entered the Italian league system for
a much longer time.
The clubs from San Marino joined the Italian federation in 1959.
After an initial entry (in 1959/60) at the lowest level by a joint
team of the two strongest local clubs, Libertas and Tre Penne, a
special 'national' club, SS Serenissima, was formed in 1960. The
club apparently played at the fourth national level for three
seasons. In 1973, after being relegated to the
promozione, Serenissima
merged with another San Marino club, Juvenes, which also had started
playing in the Italian league structure, to form
AC San Marino, later renamed San Marino Calcio.
After merging with Serenissima into AC San Marino, Juvenes remained
as a club in the San Marino football structure, and started to
enter the Italian league structure again in 1996/97. After a
merger with Dogana in 2000, they played as Juvenes/Dogana at the
Prima Categoria level of the Italian league structure (and
simultaneously in that of San Marino) until the end of the 2006/07
season, after which the club decided to play in San Marino only.
Between 1914 and 1922, FC Chiasso opted to enter the league
structure of the Italian FA (FIGC), because of the lack of
competitions in Ticino, the Swiss canton in which the
border town of Chiasso is located. They played in the first
stages of the northern Italian group in 1914/15 and of the
Lombardian groups from 1919 to 1922, never reaching the
second stage (in 1921/22, they finished only 1 point behind
group winners Como, but that was after many of the stronger
clubs had left for the dissident CGI league). After returning to
the Swiss football structure, they first reached the Swiss
top level in 1927. They have never won the Swiss championship
or reached the Swiss cup final.
Monaco has its own competition for company representations, but its most
famous football club is of course AS Monaco, first promoted to
the French top level in 1953. They have since won 7 league championships,
including one as newly promoted club in
1978. In addition, they claimed 5 cups and 2 league cups.
Unwilling to enter the weak league of the Saar,
1.FC Saarbrücken played hors concours in
the second division of the French league during the 1948/49 season,
registering 26 wins, 7 draws and
5 losses in their 38 encounters, a record which would have given them first
place in the division had their matches counted, way ahead of champions
RC Lens whom they beat home and away. Their request for regular
participation in 1949/50 was denied, and they later returned to the
(West) German league structure, reaching the
West German championship final in their first season back (1951/52)
when the Saar was still an independent entity.
The Kleinwalsertal is a region in Vorarlberg, Austria, which
cannot be reached by road from the remainder of Vorarlberg
(or Austria), but only through Germany (Oberstdorf, Bavaria).
The Skiclub Kleinwalsertal founded a football section in 1958,
which made itself independent in 1960 and registered with the
BFV (Bayerischer Fussball-Verband) in Bavaria, Germany in
order to enter the league competition there. In 1975 this club
merged into the SV Kleinwalsertal, which still is playing
football in Bavaria, although apparently only at youth level.
The club never played in the Austrian league structure.
In its early years, the German football federation DFB considered
itself the representative of German football players rather than
football players in Germany. Therefore, the football club for
German players in Prague, the DFC Prag, who geographically
fell under the jurisdiction of the
Austrian FA, entered the first ever
German championship in 1903, as representatives of the
Verband der Prager deutschen Fußball-Vereine.
Their participation already was contentious, as they had not
entered the 1903 VPdV championship (but had won the 1902 edition).
The 1903 league had finished with a 3-way tie at the top, and
rather than resolving that, it was decided to register DFC Prag
for the German championship playoff. For this, five other teams had
qualified, and DFC Prag were to play the champions of Southern
Germany, Karlsruher FV, in the first round in Munich (München).
After the KFV had already organised a ground in the Bavarian
capital and taken care of all financial issues, the DFB granted
a request by the Prague club to host the match. The KFV of course
protested, and eventually the DFB handed both clubs a bye and
refixtured the tie for the semifinals, in Leipzig. But shortly
before their departure, the Karlsruhe club received an anonymous
telegram (sent from Prague) stating that the match had been
cancelled again. They decided not to make the long trip, and
DFC Prag were awarded a walkover. The German championship final
was therefore the first official match DFC Prag played that season!
After the 1977 League Cup won by Odra Opole (who thereby earned
entry to the 1977/78 UEFA Cup), the PZPN wanted to organise another
edition in 1978; however, only 11 of the 16 top level clubs
entered, and so four guest teams from Hungary were invited:
Diósgyőri VTK, Tatabányai Bányász SC, Szegedi LC and
Kaposvári Rákóczi FC. Further details about the performances
of these four guests are not available; none reached the final,
which was won by Górnik Zabrze, who suffered relegation from
the top flight in the same season.
For at least one season, a club from the Russian exclave
Kaliningrad entered one of the three zones of the Lithuanian
third division. They won their zone unbeaten but appear not
to have entered again.
One of the third level zones in Latvia, the
Ziemeļaustrumlatvia zone, accommodated four
Estonian clubs during two seasons; their matches were not
counted for the zone itself, but for an overall classification,
the so-called Livonijas Liga, outside of the
actual Latvian league structure. (The head-to-head matches of
the Latvian clubs counted for the Ziemeļaustrumlatvia zone.)
The Estonian clubs were not very successful.
In the late nineties, (at least) two Russian clubs from
towns which had belonged to
Finland before the second World War,
FK Sortavala and Metallurg Värtsilä, played in the Finnish
league structure as guests. FK Sortavala in the Finnish league
structure for four seasons from 1995 to 1998, winning promotion
in their inaugural season in the Nelonen (fifth level)
and continuing for three years in the Kolmonen (fourth level)
before withdrawing. Metallurg Värtsilä started in the Nelonen
in 1997, won promotion, were relegated in 1998 playing in the
Kolmonen, won promotion back again in 1999 and played their
last season 2000 in the Kolmonen before withdrawing as well.
(Neither FK Sortavala 1998 nor Metallurg Värtsilä 2000
finished on a relegation place.)
At least four clubs from the Åland Islands, which form an
autonomous region within Finland although Swedish is the official
language on the archipelago, have played in
the Swedish league structure since the early 1990s.
IF Fram from Saltvik (who had
reached the fourth round of the Finnish Cup in 1979)
and Östernäs from Mariehamn (who had reached the third round
of the Finnish Cup in 1981) both played in the Division 6 (the
8th Swedish league level) in 2006, while Eckerö IK
were in Division 7 (the 9th Swedish league level).
Jomala IK (who had reached the third round of the Finnish Cup
in 1983) played at the same level in the past (at least in
the 2001 season) but meanwhile returned to the Finnish
league structure. Further details (e.g. the highest Swedish
league level ever reached by an Åland club) are not available.
In the 2009 season, Mukdahan-Savannakhet FC will make their first
appearance in the northeastern section of the Thai Division 2 (third
level); they will play home matches in Laos, in the town of
Kaysone Phomvihane (formerly known as Savannakhet and Khanthabouli,
and the capital of the Laotian province Savannakhet), which is
connected to the Thai town of Mukdahan by the Second Thai-Lao
Friendship Bridge, crossing the Mekong river, opened in 2007.
Representative teams from Brunei traditionally enter the Malaysian
football competition; until 2005, this was a privilege of a
Brunei FA
representative team, which won the cup in 1999; since the 2005/06
season, the club team DPMM FC
(Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota; then
reigning champions of the sultanate - they won 2 of the first 3
editions of the domestic B-League, in 2002 and 2004, and won the
2004 FA Cup) had the honour. This club earned promotion
from the second level in their first season and finished third
in their debut season in the top flight (Super League), after
long challenging for the championship (fellow promoted club
Kedah eventually won the title).
The team have also entered the Singapore Cup
on 5 occasions (but are currently denied entrance in the Piala
Malaysia, the main Malaysian cup tournament). DPMM will not
enter the 2009 Malaysian Super League due to the suspension of
the Brunei FA by the Home Ministry of the country. However,
in spite of this problem not yet being resolved, they managed
to register for the Singapore S-League 2009.
This is the third different top level competition of a FIFA
member country in which DPMM will participate (after Brunei
and Malaysia), a world record.
Australia |
China, Japan, South Korea, Africa |
Brunei |
Cambodia |
Indonesia |
Malaysia |
Thailand
Various foreign and pseudo-foreign teams have entered the
Singapore league,
with two Australian clubs claiming the top-2 spots in 1994,
Perth Kangaroos winning the league ahead of Darwin Cubs.
The professional S-League, which exists since 1997, has seen
'Chinese', 'Japanese' and 'African' clubs enter the league, and a Thai
guest team reach its cup final. Teams from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia
and Malaysia also played in the cup tournament in recent seasons.
Sinchi ('Singapore Chinese'), considered a team 'from China', entered the
S-League for 3 seasons; Albirex Niigata (S), which acts as a farm team
for Japanese side Albirex Niigata, have entered it since 2004 and
'African' club Sporting Afrique, which consisted of players from
Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, played for one season in 2006.
For the 2007 season Sporting Afrique were dropped while two new teams,
Liaoning Guangyuan (a farm team for Liaoning FC) and Korean Super Reds
(later renamed Super Reds) entered as additional 'foreign' participants.
In 2008, Liaoning Guangyuan were replaced by Dalian Shide Siwu, a farm
team for Dalian Shide. This club also lasted only one season before
being replaced by Brunei DPMM, who enter for the first time
in 2009, see the corresponding section on Brunei.
Note that DPMM FC played in the Malaysian league structure
from 2005/06 until 2008; due to administrative problems between the
Brunei FA and the national sports ministry, they failed to register
for the 2009 Malaysian Super League, but managed to enter the 2009
S-League instead. This is the third different top level competition of a FIFA
member country in which DPMM will participate (after Brunei
and Malaysia), a world record.
An Auckland based club entered the Australian top level since the
1999/00 season (no league was organised in 2004/05). After 5 consecutive
seasons of decidedly below par performances, the 2007/08 season saw a
club from Wellington entering instead.
Xiangxue Pharmaceutical, based in Zhaoqing, China, were admitted to
the Hongkong league in 2001. Since 2002/03, they were the reserve
side of Chinese 2nd level side Guangzhou Xiangxue. They were dissolved
after suffering relegation in 2005. They were replaced by another
China-based club, Lanwa FC from Dongguan, renamed Lanwa Redbull after
their first season and Sheffield United after their third (apparently
because Lanwa intends to enter the Chinese league). In 2008/09 a
new Chinese club, Xiangxue Eisiti, entered; they are the reserve
team of Shenzhen Xiangxue in the Chinese Super League.
Hongkong |
Malaysia |
Philippines |
Thailand
Until 1951, China did not organise a truly national (league-style)
championship, but National Games were organised on 7 occasions
between 1910 and 1948, involving representations from Hongkong
as well as from Chinese in other Asian countries. Since 1959,
ten more editions were organised, but these did not incorporate
teams from Hongkong until 2001, when the tournament had become
a competition for youth selections, and after the formerly British
colony had returned to China (likewise, Macao teams participated in
2001 and 2005). There also were 7 editions of the Inter-Sectional
Football Championship between 1926 and 1933, in which Hongkong
participated as South China (the city hosted the event in 1927 and
1930).
The 1929 Inter-Sectional Championship involved three teams, East China
winning both its matches and North China losing both.
Note that in the 1935 National Games, the two losing semifinalists
(Malaysia Chinese and Shanghai) first played against fourth place,
with the winners (Malaysia Chinese) meeting the losing finalists
(Guangdong) in an additional match for second place (as both had
beaten Shanghai and lost to winners Hongkong, but not met each
other before).
The first round of the 1948 National Games involved 10 clubs
playing for 5 slots in the round of 16 (1/8 finals).
Before World War II, British Army teams and visiting ships took part
in various East Asian championships and cup competitions, such as those
of Hongkong and Singapore. Apparently, one Singapore-based unit
entered the 1935 championship of the Philippines and went on to win it.
Between 1987 and 2003, 16 editions of the POMIS Cup
(President of Maldives Invitational Soccer Cup) were played
on the Maldives. This tournament included invited clubs from
India, Sri Lanka and Thailand and was expressly set up to provide
the Maldive club teams with the opportunity to play foreign
opposition.
Indian teams won three editions of the POMIS Cup, and twice finished
runners-up (in both cases by a club from Goa).
Apart from the finalists, the only other known
participants from India are FC Kochin (semifinalists 2001).
Sri Lankan teams won three editions of the POMIS Cup, and twice finished
runners-up. The final of the inaugural edition in 1987 was contested by
two clubs from Sri Lanka. Apart from the finalists, the only other known
participants from Sri Lanka are Negombo Youth (eliminated in group stage
2003).
One Thai team won the tournament.
Apart from the finalists, the only other known
participants from Thailand are BEC Tero Sasana (eliminated in group stage
2001).
The Palestinian diaspora is well-represented in Chile,
as exemplified by the Santiago club Palestino, champions of
the country in 1955 and 1978. In 2003, the Palestinian olympic
selection was admitted to the third division in Chile, in
order to get reasonable match practice, something impossible
in the areas suffering under
Israeli occupation and colonisation.
The team, based in Santiago de Chile, first played (and lost) 8
group matches in the Apertura (played in six groups of 4
or 5 teams, with bonus points for the Clausura being
awarded to the best teams) and then entered the northern group
(there were two zones) of the Tercera División as
Selección de Palestina, withdrawing after playing 19 from
its 28 scheduled matches (the remaining 9 were awarded 0-2 against
them) and finishing bottom of the league.
Football in Surinam is organised in two nationwide leagues (the
Hoofdklasse and the Eerste Klasse) and a third
level organised at district level. Marowijne is one of the districts
bordering French Guyana, and two separate federations organise
a third level league there, the Albina Sport Bond and
the Moengo Sport Bond. Of these, the Albina league admits
participants from across the border. No details are
known, but French Guyana clubs to have entered the Albina league
include ASJM (who played 2005/06 and 2007/08), Balaté
(who entered 2006/07 and finished 5th) and Charvein (who are
making their debut in the 2008/09 season); the champions and runners-up
qualify for a promotion playoff (Lidbondentoernooi) to the
second level involving
up to 40 clubs.
Antigua |
Barbados |
Saint Lucia |
Trinidad and Tobago |
USA
The Kashif & Shanghai Knockout Tournament, played annually around
the turn of the year, currently is the most prestigious nationwide
competition in Guyana.
It originally was restricted to teams from Linden, but since the third
edition (in 1992/93) clubs from all over the country enter, and there
have been occasional appearances by foreign teams since (at the
latest) 1996/97, when a representation of Guyanese based in New York
(USA), called Guynamics, entered (and finished third). Among the
guest teams, two Trinidad teams won the tournament, and a Saint Lucia
club once finished runners-up.
Finals traditionally are on New Year's Day, and the years indicated
below refer to the year in which the tournament started (so the
final and third place match usually were in the following year).
There has been one appearance of an Antiguan club (playing at the
third level domestically) in the tournament.
There has been one appearance of a Barbados club (playing at the
second level domestically) in the tournament.
There have been two appearances of Saint Lucian clubs
in the tournament.
There have been three appearances of Trinidadian clubs in the
tournament; two won the tournament.
There have been three known appearances of USA-based clubs in the
tournament.
Bermuda |
Canada |
Puerto Rico
In 2007, a club from Bermuda, the Bermuda Hogges, entered the
USL Second Division,
a 'third level' league below the USL First Division which
also features a team from Puerto Rico.
The North American Soccer League (NASL)
was the second attempt (after
the American Soccer League in the 1920s)
to establish a nationwide, professional association football league in
North America. Unlike its predecessor, and
as its name indicates, it was not restricted to the United States but also
included various clubs (or rather franchises) from Canada. As these were
not many and mostly played a secondary role, we nevertheless include them
in this section as 'guest' teams in a foreign country. The following
Canada-based teams played one or more seasons in the NASL, which was
founded in 1968 and folded after the 1984 season: Toronto Falcons,
Vancouver Royals (both only played 1968, folding after one season),
Toronto Metros (1971-1984; renamed Toronto Metros-Croatia
in 1975 and Toronto Blizzard in 1979), Montréal Olympique (1971-1973,
folded after three seasons), Vancouver Whitecaps (1974-1984),
Edmonton Drillers (1979-1982; formed by relocation of Oakland Stompers,
folded after four seasons), Calgary Boomers (1981; formed by relocation
of Memphis Rogues, folded after one season) and Montreal Manic
(1981-1983; formed by relocation of Philadelphia Fury, folded after
three seasons).
Of these, Toronto Croatia (formerly Metros, Metros-Croatia
and Blizzard during their NASL days) won the Canadian
Premier Soccer League in 2000 and 2004 and its successor,
the Canadian Soccer League, in 2007, making them
the first club to win both the American and Canadian top level leagues.
In 2007, a Canadian club (Toronto FC) made its maiden appearance in
the current top level league in the United States,
Major League Soccer (MLS),
established in 1996. In 2008, the club also entered a so-called
'academy' team, TFC Academy, in the
Canadian CSL. In
addition, there are several Canadian clubs in the American
lower level structure, which currently is divided in the
United Soccer Leagues (USL, containing a First Division (formerly
A League) - a 'second level' league without possibility of promotion
to the 'first level' MLS, and a Second Division - a 'third level'
league) and the 'fourth level' Premier Development League (PDL).
Currently, the Canadian clubs playing there are: Montreal
Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps (previously in the NASL), both
in the USL First Division, and Abbotsford Rangers, Ottawa Fury,
Thunder Bay Chill and Toronto Lynx, all four in the PDL.
Montreal Impact won the USL First Division title in 2004,
Vancouver Whitecaps in 2006 and 2008.
Note that the Canadian franchises do not enter the tournament
for the US Open Cup.
The top three Canadian professional clubs (Toronto FC,
Montréal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps) played a 6-match
qualifying competition, dubbed the Canadian Championship,
to determine the Canadian qualifiers for the
CONCACAF Champions League 2008/09,
for which the CSL clubs are not eligible.
Since 2004, the Islanders, from Bayamón on Puerto Rico,
play in the USL First Division (formerly A League),
a 'second level' league without possibility of promotion
to the 'first level' MLS. In 2008 they finished top of the table
in the regular season, and reached the final of the championship
playoffs, in which they lost to Vancouver Whitecaps.
Notes: no distinction is made between Germany and West Germany,
between Ireland (pre-1920) and Northern Ireland, or between Cyprus
before and after the de facto secession of the North.
Non-UEFA members (e.g. Northern Cyprus) not included.
After the Great War 1914-1918, Romania managed to convince the Allies
to enlarge it with several regions where Romanians formed
the majority of the population, in particular Transylvania
(Ardeal in Romanian, Erdély in Hungarian,
Siebenbürgen in German) from the Hungarian part of the
Habsburg Empire, the Bukovina (Bucovina in Romanian,
Buchenland or Bukowina in German, Bukovyna
in Ukrainian) from its Austrian part, and Bessarabia (Basarab)
from the Russian Empire.
At the start of the second World War, in September 1940, Romania
ceded the southern Dobrodgea to Bulgaria, a move followed by a
'population exchange', nearly all Romanians leaving the southern
Dobrodgea and nearly all Bulgarians leaving the northern part.
After the second World War, Transylvania (which had partially
gone to Hungary during the war) and the
southern part of the Bukovina remained Romanian, but the northern
Bukovina and Bessarabia were claimed by Stalin for the Soviet Union.
Nowadays, the northern Bukovina
lies in the Ukraine while Bessarabia roughly corresponds to the current
Republic of Moldova (roughly - the Soviets are responsible for
some illogical border changes between (the Republic of) Moldova
and the Ukraine).
None of these areas played a major role in Romanian football between
the wars, but as that was organised on a regional level until 1932,
various clubs from the northern Bukovina and Bessarabia reached the
semifinals of the national championship playoff, and one club from
Cernăuţi, the main city in the Bukovina, played a season
in the top national division.
Bulgarian clubs in the Romanian football structure
City name correspondences:
Romanian Bulgarian
Balcic Balčik
Bazargic Dobrich (Tolbukhin during communist times)
Caliacra Kavarna
Silistra Silistra
Turtucaia Tutrakan
Championship
No club from the region played above the third level.
Cup
No club from the region reached the 1/16 finals of the Romanian cup.
Moldovan clubs in the Romanian football structure
City name correspondences:
Romanian Russian
Chişinău Kishinev
Tighina Bender
Championship (knock-out style)
1925: prel. rd.: Fulgerul CFR Chişinău (2-0 vs Oltul Slatina, disqualified)
NB: Fulgerul had already played (and won) their quarterfinal (2-1 vs Jahn
Cernăuţi) before being disqualified for using an ineligible player
1926: semifinal: Fulgerul CFR Chişinău (2-2, 1-4 vs Juventus Bucureşti)
1927: quarterf.: Mihai Viteazul Chişinău (4-4, 1-3 vs Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti)
1928: semifinal: Mihai Viteazul Chişinău (4-6 vs Coltea Braşov)
1929: prel. rd.: Mihai Viteazul Chişinău (0-1 vs Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi)
1930: semifinal: Mihai Viteazul Chişinău (2-4 vs Juventus Bucureşti)
1931: prel. rd.: Mihai Viteazul Chişinău (1-3 vs Concordia Iaşi)
Cup
1937: 1/8 final: Sporting Chişinău (1-3 vs Venus Bucureşti)
1939: 1/16 fin.: Mihai Viteazul Chişinău (1-9 vs Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti)
1940: 1/16 fin.: Macabi Chişinău (1-4 vs AS Constanţa)
Ukrainian clubs in the Romanian football structure
Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi are also the only club
from outside the current Romanian borders to have reached the
quarterfinals of the Romanian cup.
City name correspondence:
Romanian Ukrainian Russian German
Cernăuţi Chernivtsy Chernovtsy Czernowitz
Cetatea Albă Bilhorod Belgorod
Chilia Kiliya Kiliya
Ismail Izmayil Izmail
NB: Cetatea Albă/Belgorod/Bilhorod was known by its Turkish name
Akkerman (also used in German) prior to the first World War; its
full Ukrainian name is Bilhorod-Dnistrovs'kyi (correspondingly,
in Russian the full name is Belgorod-Dnestrovskiy).
Championship (knock-out style)
1922: quarterf.: Polonia Cernăuţi (0-1 vs Tricolor Bucureşti)
1923: quarterf.: Polonia Cernăuţi (0-1 vs MTK Tîrgu Mureş)
1924: semifinal: Jahn Cernăuţi (0-1 vs CA Oradea)
1925: semifinal: Jahn Cernăuţi (1-3 vs UCAS Petroşani)
1926: quarterf.: Hackoah Cernăuţi (0-1 vs Fulgerul CFR Chişinău)
1927: prel. rd.: Macabi Cernăuţi (0-6 vs Mihai Viteazul Chişinău)
1928: quarterf.: Polonia Cernăuţi (0-5 vs Mihai Viteazul Chişinău)
1929: semifinal: Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi (3-4 vs Venus Bucureşti)
1930: quarterf.: Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi (2-4 vs Mihai Viteazul Chişinău)
1931: semifinal: Macabi Cernăuţi (2-4 vs SG Sibiu)
1932: semifinal: Macabi Hackoah Cernăuţi (0-5 vs Venus Bucureşti)
Championship (league)
1937/38 10.Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi 18 4 0 14 26-57 8 [group B]
Cup
1935: 1/16 fin.: Jahn Cernăuţi (0-4 vs CA Oradea)
1/16 fin.: Macabi Cernăuţi (0-4 vs SG Sibiu)
1936: 1/8 final: Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi (1-4 vs Universitatea Cluj)
1937: 1/8 final: Jahn Cernăuţi (3-7 vs Rapid Bucureşti)
1938: 1/16 fin.: Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi (0-4 vs Phoenix Baia Mare)
1940: quarterf.: Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi (2-6 vs Sportul studenţesc Bucureşti)
1/16 fin.: Caurom Cernăuţi (1-9 vs Victoria Cluj)
1943: 1/8 final: Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi (0-4 vs FC Ploieşti)
1944: 1/16 fin.: Neptun and Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi were to play each other
in the 1/16 finals, but the competition was abandoned
Yugoslavia
We will use Yugoslavia only for the entity before the 1991/92 split-ups,
including the 1991/92 season in which the 'Yugoslav' league still
comprised clubs from Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina (but not
from Croatia or Slovenia). From 1992/93 up to and including
2005/06 only teams from Serbia and Montenegro entered, apart from
the token participation by Borac Banja Luka (then playing home
matches in Belgrade and Valjevo) in 1992/93. This
includes the two entries (1992/93 and 1998/99) by FK Priština
(who played at the second and third Serbian levels between 1993 and 1998;
after 1999 no Kosovar clubs have played above
the fourth level of the Serbian league structure);
we will therefore use Serbia-Montenegro for the entire period from 1992
to 2006, even if this name only became official in February 2003 (and
as such only lasted for three years). The
case of a club from Trieste/Trst playing in the Yugoslav league shortly
after World War II is discussed in the section on
moving borders.
Bosnian and Herzegovinan clubs in the Yugoslav football structure 1923-1992
Both Sarajevo and Željezničar won 3 editions of the
cup (i.e. the FSBiH cup competition, in existence since 1997/98),
while Borac Banja Luka were losing finalists in 2004
and Sloboda Tuzla in 2008. None of
the other clubs have reached the final of the cup, but
Čelik Zenica won the first two 'Muslim' cups in 1995 and
1996, the latter in a final against Sloboda Tuzla; likewise,
Borac Banja Luka won the Srpska cups of 1995 and 1996.
Championship
Championships in knock-out style
1923: finalists: SAŠK Sarajevo (1-1, 2-4 vs Građanski Zagreb)
1924: semifinal: SAŠK Sarajevo (1-6 vs Hajduk Split)
1925: quarterf.: SAŠK Sarajevo (0-6 vs Građanski Zagreb)
1926: quarterf.: SAŠK Sarajevo (1-2 vs Hajduk Split)
1936: finalists: Slavija Sarajevo (1-1, 0-1 vs BSK Beograd)
quarterf.: Krajišnik Banja Luka (1-3, 1-4 vs Ljubljana)
Championships in league style
Sarajevo
Top-5 finishes (in 43 top level seasons)
1950 5.Sarajevo 18 7 3 8 30-27 17
1963/64 4.Sarajevo 26 11 7 8 47-37 29
1964/65 2.Sarajevo 28 15 5 8 52-38 35
1966/67 1.Sarajevo 30 18 6 6 51-29 42
1978/79 4.Sarajevo 34 17 5 12 56-53 39
1979/80 2.Sarajevo 34 17 7 10 55-41 41
1981/82 4.Sarajevo 34 16 7 11 57-54 39
1984/85 1.Sarajevo 34 19 10 5 51-30 48
NB: both Sarajevo's league championships came immediately after a
season in which they had finished 9th; they also failed to
confirm their status in the seasons after their title wins,
finishing 6th in 1967/68 and 15th(!) in 1985/86.
Velež Mostar
Top-5 finishes (in 38 top level seasons)
1962/63 4.Velež Mostar 26 10 8 8 33-31 28
1965/66 3.Velež Mostar 30 14 7 9 48-37 35
1969/70 3.Velež Mostar 34 17 9 8 64-44 43
1972/73 2.Velež Mostar 34 17 12 5 48-27 46
1973/74 2.Velež Mostar 34 19 7 8 54-34 45
1974/75 4.Velež Mostar 34 15 9 10 62-35 39
1978/79 5.Velež Mostar 34 15 8 11 50-41 38
1985/86 3.Velež Mostar 34 13 11 10 64-50 37
1986/87 2.Velež Mostar 34 19 4 11 65-46 42
1987/88 3.Velež Mostar 34 15 12 7 61-34 42
Željezničar Sarajevo
Top-5 finishes (in 34 top level seasons)
1962/63 3.Željezničar Sarajevo 26 11 7 8 49-31 29
1964/65 5.Željezničar Sarajevo 28 13 7 8 39-30 33
1967/68 5.Željezničar Sarajevo 30 12 9 9 44-34 33
1968/69 5.Željezničar Sarajevo 34 15 8 11 51-38 38
1969/70 4.Željezničar Sarajevo 34 17 9 8 52-33 43
1970/71 2.Željezničar Sarajevo 34 18 9 7 59-34 45
1971/72 1.Željezničar Sarajevo 34 21 9 4 55-20 51
1972/73 5.Željezničar Sarajevo 34 18 6 10 59-41 42
1981/82 5.Željezničar Sarajevo 34 16 6 12 52-37 38
1983/84 3.Željezničar Sarajevo 34 15 12 7 52-35 42
Sloboda Tuzla
Top-8 finishes (in 25 top level seasons)
1971/72 7.Sloboda Tuzla 34 12 11 11 34-33 35
1972/73 6.Sloboda Tuzla 34 8 18 8 34-32 34
1974/75 7.Sloboda Tuzla 34 12 12 10 41-45 36
1975/76 6.Sloboda Tuzla 34 11 11 12 46-42 33
1976/77 3.Sloboda Tuzla 34 14 11 9 43-32 39
1977/78 6.Sloboda Tuzla 34 15 5 14 47-46 35
1978/79 8.Sloboda Tuzla 34 11 10 13 34-34 32
1979/80 6.Sloboda Tuzla 34 13 9 12 44-37 35
1980/81 4.Sloboda Tuzla 34 14 8 12 46-51 36
1982/83 6.Sloboda Tuzla 34 12 11 11 44-33 35
1987/88 5.Sloboda Tuzla 34 14 10 10 53-41 38
Čelik Zenica
Top-10 finishes (in 17 top level seasons)
1968/69 9.Čelik Zenica 34 11 11 12 42-41 33
1970/71 9.Čelik Zenica 34 14 8 12 35-32 36
1973/74 6.Čelik Zenica 34 12 11 11 30-28 35
Borac Banja Luka
Top-10 finishes (in 15 top level seasons)
1975/76 10.Borac Banja Luka 34 9 14 11 34-40 32
1976/77 6.Borac Banja Luka 34 14 8 12 53-43 36
1990/91 4.Borac Banja Luka 36 14 11 11 42-38 35 [-4]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with only
the shootout winners obtaining a point
1991/92 8.Borac Banja Luka 33 11 10 12 24-32 28 [-4]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with only
the shootout winners obtaining a point
Slavija Sarajevo (6 seasons)
1930 5.Slavija Sarajevo 10 2 2 6 15-23 6
1932/33 9.Slavija Sarajevo 20 7 2 11 37-48 16
1934/35 8.Slavija Sarajevo 18 7 1 10 26-34 15
1936/37 5.Slavija Sarajevo 18 7 3 8 36-40 17
1937/38 5.Slavija Sarajevo 18 7 4 7 25-28 18
1938/39 7.Slavija Sarajevo 22 7 5 10 34-43 19
SAŠK Sarajevo (3 seasons)
1927 5.SAŠK Sarajevo 5 2 0 3 12-13 4
1928 4.SAŠK Sarajevo 5 2 1 2 10- 7 5
1930/31 5.SAŠK Sarajevo 10 4 0 6 18-28 8
Iskra Bugojno (1 season)
1984/85 17.Iskra Bugojno 34 8 11 15 32-50 27
Cup
1958: finalists: Velež Mostar (0-4 vs Crvena zvezda Beograd)
1967: finalists: Sarajevo (1-2 vs Hajduk Split)
1971: finalists: Sloboda Tuzla (0-4, 0-2 vs Crvena zvezda Beograd)
1974: finalists: Borac Banja Luka (0-1 vs Hajduk Split)
1981: winners: Velež Mostar (3-2 vs Željezničar Sarajevo)
1981: finalists: Željezničar Sarajevo (2-3 vs Velež Mostar)
1983: finalists: Sarajevo (2-3 vs Dinamo Zagreb)
1986: winners: Velež Mostar (3-1 vs Dinamo Zagreb)
1988: winners: Borac Banja Luka (1-0 vs Crvena zvezda Beograd)
1989: finalists: Velež Mostar (1-6 vs Partizan Beograd)
Croatian clubs in the Yugoslav football structure 1923-1991
Championship
Hajduk Split (9 championships)
1927, 1929, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979
Građanski Zagreb (5 championships)
1923, 1926, 1928, 1937, 1940
Dinamo Zagreb (4 championships)
1948, 1954, 1958, 1982
Concordia Zagreb (2 championships)
1930, 1932
HAŠK Zagreb (1 championship)
1938
Cup
Hajduk Split (9 cups)
1967, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1984, 1987, 1991
Dinamo Zagreb (7 cups)
1951, 1970, 1963, 1965, 1969, 1980, 1983
Rijeka (2 cups)
1978, 1979
Kosovar clubs in the Yugoslav football structure
Titova Mitrovica was later renamed Kosovska Mitrovica; the
Albanian version of the town's name is Mitrovicë, and
likewise Priština corresponds to Prishtinë. A club
called Prishtina won 4 Kosovar championships since 1999 (and
2 more in 1996 and 1997), as well as 1 cup tournament, but it
is apparently not related with the Priština listed below,
who played in the league structure of Yugoslavia (c.q. Serbia
and Montenegro) until 1998/99.
The Kosovar league currently contains two teams
from Mitrovicë, Trepça '89 and Trepça, but presumably
neither is directly related to the 1978 Yugoslav cup
finalists, as a club called Trepča Kosovska Mitrovica
still played at the fourth level (Šumadijska Zona) of the
Serbian league structure in 2006/07 (they were relegated at
the end of that season due to merging of the Šumadijska
and Moravička zones into the Zonska liga Morava for 2007/08;
city rivals Partizan Kosovska Mitrovica earned promotion to that
new structure, finishing 9th).
City name correspondences:
Serbian Albanian
Leposavić Leposaviq (or Albaniku)
Mitrovica Mitrovicë
Priština Prishtinë
Zubin Potok Zubin Potoku
Championship
Priština (7 top level seasons)
1983/84 8.Priština 34 15 3 16 36-55 33
1984/85 10.Priština 34 13 6 15 44-49 32
1985/86 11.Priština 34 13 6 15 37-47 32
1986/87 14.Priština 34 11 7 16 35-48 29
1987/88 18.Priština 34 10 7 17 43-59 27
1992/93 18.Priština 36 7 9 20 32-64 23
1998/99 17.Priština 24 5 3 16 25-49 18
NB: the 1998/99 season was abandoned after the NATO attack on Serbia,
and the table after 24 (from 34) rounds was declared final
Trepča Titova Mitrovica
1977/78 18.Trepča Titova Mitrovica 34 7 10 17 28-52 24
Cup
1978: finalists: Trepča Titova Mitrovica (0-1 aet vs Rijeka)
Since 1999/00
2000: 1/16 fin.: Priština (withdrew vs Mogren Budva)
2002: 1/16 fin.: Ibar Leposavić (0-3 vs Vojvodina Novi Sad)
2003: 1/16 fin.: Rudar Kos. Mitrovica (0-6 vs Zemun)
2004: 1/16 fin.: Trepča Kos. Mitrovica (0-0 aet, 0-3 pen vs Zemun)
2005: 1/16 fin.: Mokra Gora Zubin Potok (1-5 vs Obilić)
2006: 1/16 fin.: Mokra Gora Zubin Potok (0-3 vs OFK Beograd)
2007: 1/8 final: Mokra Gora Zubin Potok (1-2 vs Crvena zvezda Beograd)
2008: 1/16 fin.: Mokra Gora Zubin Potok (1-1 aet, 3-4 pen vs Zemun)
2009: 1/16 fin.: Partizan Kos. Mitrovica (1-3 vs Borac Čačak)
Macedonian clubs in the Yugoslav football structure 1923-1991
Championship
Championships in knock-out style
1936: quarterf.: Građanski Skopje (2-1, 1-10 vs Slavija Sarajevo)
Championships in league style
Vardar Skopje
Top-8 finishes (in 34 top level seasons)
1947/48 8.Vardar Skopje 18 5 4 9 22-39 14
1952 7.Vardar Skopje 16 7 1 8 21-33 15 (group and playoff)
1957/58 7.Vardar Skopje 26 10 6 10 30-44 26
1966/67 8.Vardar Skopje 30 13 5 12 41-44 31
1967/68 6.Vardar Skopje 30 10 10 10 31-37 30
1979/80 7.Vardar Skopje 34 10 15 9 43-41 35
1982/83 8.Vardar Skopje 34 13 9 12 43-47 35
1984/85 5.Vardar Skopje 34 15 5 13 67-58 37
1985/86 8.Vardar Skopje 34 14 6 14 52-59 34
1986/87 5.Vardar Skopje 34 15 8 11 40-39 38
NB: due to point deductions for 10 from 18 clubs, Vardar had
finished first and entered the 1987/88 Champions Cup, but
later the deductions were revoked and Vardar finished 5th.
1987/88 6.Vardar Skopje 34 15 7 12 37-40 37
1991/92 6.Vardar Skopje 33 15 6 12 50-34 34 [-2]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with only
the shootout winners obtaining a point
Rabotnički Skopje (2 top level seasons)
1952 11.Rabotnički Skopje 16 4 2 10 19-44 10 (group and playoff)
1954 14.Rabotnički Skopje 26 4 3 19 20-88 11
Građanski/Pobeda Skopje (2 top level seasons)
1938/39 10.Građanski Skopje 22 7 2 13 31-57 16
1946/47 8.Pobeda Skopje 26 8 6 12 41-49 22
Teteks Tetovo (1 top level season)
1981/82 17.Teteks Tetovo 34 8 9 19 31-68 23
Pelister Bitola (1 top level season)
1991/92 15.Pelister Bitola 33 9 3 21 30-57 20 [-1]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with only
the shootout winners obtaining a point
Cup
1961: winners: Vardar Skopje (2-1 vs Varteks Varaždin)
Montenegrin clubs in the Yugoslav football structure 1923-1992
Championship
Championships in knock-out style
1936: 1/8 final: Crnogorac Cetinje (3-3, 1-2 vs Slavija Sarajevo)
Championships in league style
Budućnost Titograd/Podgorica
Top-8 finishes (in 26 top level seasons)
1948/49 6.Budućnost Titograd 18 6 4 8 29-36 16
1978/79 6.Budućnost Titograd 34 15 8 11 33-36 38
1980/81 6.Budućnost Titograd 34 11 12 11 38-34 34
1981/82 8.Budućnost Titograd 34 13 8 13 47-44 34
1986/87 7.Budućnost Titograd 34 14 9 11 40-36 37
Sutjeska Nikšić (9 top level seasons)
1964/65 15.Sutjeska Nikšić 28 6 7 15 31-57 19
1966/67 15.Sutjeska Nikšić 30 8 6 16 30-58 22
1971/72 16.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 9 10 15 25-39 28
1972/73 18.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 9 7 18 32-49 25
1984/85 9.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 11 11 12 41-42 33
1985/86 10.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 14 4 16 55-61 32
1986/87 10.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 12 10 12 50-52 34
1987/88 17.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 10 9 15 42-49 29
1991/92 13.Sutjeska Nikšić 33 11 6 16 40-47 23 [-5]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with only
the shootout winners obtaining a point
Cup
1965: finalists: Budućnost Titograd (1-2 vs Dinamo Zagreb)
1977: finalists: Budućnost Titograd (0-2 aet vs Hajduk Split)
Montenegrin clubs in the Serbo-Montenegrin football structure 1992-2006
Championship
NB: the 3 seasons from 1993/94 to 1995/96 had 2 10-team divisions,
1/A and 1/B, with the bottom-4 of the first after the autumn
season being exchanged with the top-4 of the second, with
bonus points regulating the starting positions for the spring
season in which the championship was decided; only participations
in the 1/A division are considered top level appearances here.
Budućnost Podgorica (9.5 top level seasons)
1992/93 10.Budućnost Podgorica 36 14 8 14 44-48 36
1993 aut 6.Budućnost Podgorica 18 6 6 6 17-26 18
1994 spr 7.Budućnost Podgorica 18 7 2 9 21-33 23
1995 aut10.Budućnost Podgorica 18 2 3 13 14-40 9
1996/97 10.Budućnost Podgorica 33 11 6 16 26-44 39
1997/98 8.Budućnost Podgorica 33 8 9 16 27-53 33
1998/99 14.Budućnost Podgorica 24 7 5 12 28-42 26
1999/00 12.Budućnost Podgorica 40 15 7 18 45-45 52
2000/01 15.Budućnost Podgorica 34 11 5 18 29-48 38
2004/05 6.Budućnost Podgorica 30 12 5 13 37-37 41
2005/06 14.Budućnost Podgorica 30 6 10 14 24-43 25 [-3]
Sutjeska Nikšić (7 top level seasons)
1992/93 16.Sutjeska Nikšić 36 11 7 18 46-67 29
1999/00 5.Sutjeska Nikšić 40 17 9 14 50-50 60
2000/01 7.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 14 4 16 52-64 46
2001/02 11.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 14 4 16 32-45 46
2002/03 4.Sutjeska Nikšić 34 19 5 10 43-32 62
2003/04 8.Sutjeska Nikšić 30 12 4 14 38-36 40
2004/05 15.Sutjeska Nikšić 30 5 7 18 21-48 22
Zeta Golubovci (6 top level seasons)
2000/01 13.Zeta Golubovci 34 11 9 14 38-50 42
2001/02 5.Zeta Golubovci 34 15 7 12 48-50 52
2002/03 8.Zeta Golubovci 34 15 6 13 51-43 51
2003/04 11.Zeta Golubovci 30 10 6 14 38-41 36
2004/05 3.Zeta Golubovci 30 18 5 7 52-30 59
2005/06 5.Zeta Golubovci 30 14 5 11 42-36 47
Mogren Budva (4 top level seasons)
1992/93 13.Mogren Budva 36 12 7 17 46-52 31
1998/99 15.Mogren Budva 24 4 8 12 18-42 20
1999/00 19.Mogren Budva 40 13 5 22 40-70 44
2002/03 16.Mogren Budva 34 5 6 23 33-76 21
Rudar Pljevlja (2.5 top level seasons)
1994 aut 9.Rudar Pljevlja 18 2 6 10 12-28 10
2001/02 7.Rudar Pljevlja 34 13 8 13 35-33 47
2002/03 17.Rudar Pljevlja 34 4 6 24 19-62 18
Kom Podgorica (1 top level season)
2003/04 16.Kom Podgorica 30 4 2 24 21-67 14
Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje (1 top level season)
2005/06 16.Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje 30 3 2 25 18-72 11
Cup
No Montenegrin team ever reached the semifinals of the cup
tournament between 1992/93 and 2005/06.
1993: quarterf.: Budućnost Podgorica (1-1, 2-2 vs Zastava Kragujevac)
1993: quarterf.: Sutjeska Nikšić (2-1, 0-2 vs Crvena zvezda Beograd)
1995: quarterf.: Rudar Pljevlja (3-3, 0-1 vs Bečej)
2000: quarterf.: Čelik Nikšić (0-5 vs Zemun)
2001: quarterf.: Zeta Golubovci (1-3 vs Mladost Apatin)
2003: quarterf.: Rudar Pljevlja (1-2 vs Sartid Smederevo)
Serbian clubs in the Yugoslav football structure 1923-1992
Championship
Crvena zvezda Beograd (19 championships)
1951, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970,
1973, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992
Partizan Beograd (11 championships)
1947, 1949, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986,
1987
NB: Partizan won the 1986 and 1987 titles after lengthy legal procedures;
originally, Crvena zvezda had been declared 1986 champions and Vardar
Skopje 1987 champions, and those two clubs participated in the UEFA
Champions Cups of 1986/87 and 1987/88 respectively.
BSK Beograd (5 championships)
1931, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1939
Vojvodina Novi Sad (2 championships)
1966, 1989
Jugoslavija Beograd (2 championships)
1924, 1925
Cup
Crvena zvezda Beograd (12 cups)
1948, 1949, 1950, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1982,
1985, 1990
Partizan Beograd (6 cups)
1947, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1989, 1992
OFK Beograd (4 cups, includes BSK)
1953, 1955, 1962, 1966
NB: first two cups won as BSK
Serbian clubs since 1992
Championship
Partizan Beograd (10 championships)
1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009
Crvena zvezda Beograd (6 championships)
1995, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007
Obilić (1 championship)
1998
Cup
Crvena zvezda Beograd (10 cups)
1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007
Partizan Beograd (5 cups)
1994, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2009
Sartid Smederevo (1 cup) [now called Smederevo]
2003
Železnik Beograd (1 cup)
2005
Slovenian clubs in the Yugoslav football structure 1923-1991
Maribor have won 7 Slovenian championships and 5 cups, both records.
Ilirija Ljubljana and Primorje Ljubljana merged in 1936 to
form (NK) Ljubljana (different from SŠK Ljubljana below,
a club founded 1925 and dissolved 1940); the merger club
went through a long sequence of name chances and may or may
not be related to current Interblock Ljubljana.
Nafta Lendava, from a town occupied by Hungary
during World War II, have not won any honours in independent Slovenia
but currently play in the first division.
Championship
Championships in knock-out style
1923: quarterf.: Ilirija Ljubljana (1-2 vs Građanski Zagreb)
1924: quarterf.: Ilirija Ljubljana (1-3 vs SAŠK Sarajevo)
1925: quarterf.: Ilirija Ljubljana (0-3 vs Bačka Subotica)
1926: quarterf.: Ilirija Ljubljana (1-7 vs Građanski Zagreb)
1936: semifinal: SŠK Ljubljana (1-3, 1-3 vs BSK Beograd)
Championships in league style
Olimpija Ljubljana (includes Odred Ljubljana)
Top-10 finishes (in 22 top level seasons)
1965/66 8.Olimpija Ljubljana 30 11 7 12 43-47 29
1970/71 7.Olimpija Ljubljana 34 13 10 11 47-35 36
1971/72 9.Olimpija Ljubljana 34 13 5 16 46-51 31
1973/74 10.Olimpija Ljubljana 34 11 10 13 36-42 32
1977/78 10.Olimpija Ljubljana 34 13 6 15 44-44 32
1981/82 9.Olimpija Ljubljana 34 9 15 10 39-38 33
1982/83 7.Olimpija Ljubljana 34 11 13 10 33-31 35
1989/90 8.Olimpija Ljubljana 34 14 6 14 49-40 30 [-4]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with only
the shootout winners obtaining a point
Maribor (5 top level seasons)
1967/68 12.Maribor 30 8 11 11 38-53 27
1968/69 16.Maribor 34 7 14 13 33-57 28
1969/70 10.Maribor 34 13 7 14 40-51 33
1970/71 13.Maribor 34 9 11 14 33-48 29
1971/72 18.Maribor 34 3 14 17 24-61 20
SŠK Ljubljana (3 top level seasons)
1936/37 8.SŠK Ljubljana 18 6 3 9 21-40 15
1937/38 9.SŠK Ljubljana 18 3 5 10 24-42 11
1938/39 9.SŠK Ljubljana 22 7 4 11 23-41 18
Primorje Ljubljana (2 top level seasons)
1932/33 8.Primorje Ljubljana 20 7 3 10 39-47 17
1934/35 9.Primorje Ljubljana 18 4 5 9 21-43 13
Ilirija Ljubljana (1 top level season)
1927 6.Ilirija Ljubljana 5 1 1 3 5- 9 3
Nafta Lendava (1 top level season)
1946/47 14.Nafta Lendava 26 3 0 23 13-88 6
Cup
1970: finalists: Olimpija Ljubljana (2-2, 0-1 aet vs Crvena zvezda Beograd)
South Africa
Bophuthatswana clubs in the South African football structure
Ciskei clubs in the South African football structure
Transkei clubs in the South African football structure
After the end of Transkei's nominal independence, the club were renamed
Umtata Bush Bucks and won one more League Cup
(in 1996). They remained at the top level (renamed PSL), moving to
East London (outside of the former homeland of Transkei) in 2000,
until suffering relegation at the end of the 2002/03 season.
They returned after only one season, but were relegated again at the
end of 2005/06 season and subsequently dissolved, their place at the
second level being taken by a new club called Western Province United,
based in Cape Town.
Championship (NSL)
1988 17.Umtata Bucks 34 8 10 16 27-48 26
1990 7.Umtata Bucks 34 14 9 11 39-42 37
1991 4.Umtata Bucks 34 17 10 7 51-28 44
1992 17.Umtata Bucks 42 12 14 16 33-42 38
1993 5.Umtata Bucks 38 15 12 11 51-43 42
1994 3.Umtata Bucks 34 18 5 11 51-32 41
League Cup
1993: winners: Umtata Bucks (3-1 vs Cape Town Santos)
Vendan clubs in the South African football structure
Tanzania
Zanzibar clubs in the Tanzanian football structure
Due to this (and the fact that complete data are not available), we
only list those Zanzibar teams who either won the Union League or
Nyerere Cup, and not the league runners-up or losing finalists.
Among the successful teams listed below, KMKM won the 'independent'
Zanzibar championship 2004 and Polisi the editions of 2005 and 2006,
while Miembeni were Zanzibar champions 2007 and 2008.
Championship
1984 1.KMKM 6 4 0 2 8- 5 8
1989 1.Malindi SC
1992 1.Malindi SC
Cup
1974: winners: JKU
1977: winners: KMKM
1982: winners: KMKM
1983: winners: KMKM
1985: winners: Miembeni SC
1986: winners: Miembeni SC
1987: winners: Miembeni SC
1990: winners: Small Simba SC
1993: winners: Malindi SC
2001: winners: Polisi (Zanzibar) (2-0 vs Young Africans)
NB: JKU denotes Jeshi la Kujenga Uchumi;
KMKM denotes Kikosi Maalum cha Kuzuia Magendo
Pakistan
Note that Pakistan bought the harbour city of Gwadar (for
3 million pounds) from the Sultan of Oman in 1958; as no data on
Omani football prior to 1972 are available, it is unknown
whether any clubs from Gwadar (such as currently existing
Gwadar Port Authority) played there.
Pakistan and India have a long standing
conflict on the Jammu and Kashmir region - teams from the part
currently controlled by Pakistan occasionally enter Pakistani
tournaments, but it is not known whether there ever were football
competitions covering the entire region.
Bangladeshi clubs in the Pakistani football structure
Championship
1957 2.East Pakistan White
1959 2.East Pakistan
1960 1.East Pakistan
1961/62 1.Dacca
1962 1.Dacca
1969/70 1.Chittagong
Cup
There was no national cup tournament.
Malaysia
Singapore clubs in the Malaysian football structure
Championship
Singapore FA (2 championships)
1985, 1994
Cup (Piala Malaya/Piala HMS/Piala Malaysia)
Singapore FA (24 cups, 2 of these shared)
1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1928*, 1929*, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1934,
1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1960, 1964,
1965, 1977, 1980, 1994
NB: Singapore shared the 1928 and 1929 cups with Selangor
after drawing both finals 2-2
Cup (FAM Cup)
Singapore FA (2 cups)
1963, 1967
NB: this secondary cup tournament was the first to be played for
by club teams, since 1974; from 1952 to 1973 it also was
reserved for regional FA selections.
Korea
North Korean clubs in the Korean football structure
A number of North Korean champions since 1985 are known
(with April 25 and Locomotive (also known as Kigwancha)
winning most championships), but none
prior to that period. It is unknown whether any North Korean
teams entered the Amateur Adult Football Conference, started in 1946
and dominated by army units, a
number of universities and a few company and factory teams.
See the section on South Korean clubs
for more information on the finalists of this competition prior
to 1950.
South Korean clubs in the Korean football structure
Vietnam
North Vietnamese clubs in the Vietnamese football structure
Cau Lac Bo Quan Doi (Ha Noi) [also known as Army Sports Club]
won 10 championships in North Vietnam, their last in 1978;
won 5 championships in Vietnam, in
1981/82, 1982/83, 1987, 1990, and 1998,
the last under their new name The Cong;
reached and lost two cup finals in Vietnam, in
1992 and 2004 (the last as The Cong)
Quan Khu Thu Do
won the last ever championship in North Vietnam 1979;
were runners-up in Vietnam 1981/82
South Vietnamese clubs in the Vietnamese football structure
Hai Quan (Saigon) [also known as Customs]
won the 1966 championship in South Vietnam;
won 1 championship in Vietnam, in 1991;
won 2 cups in Vietnam, in 1996 and 1997;
lost the 1998 cup final
Cong An (Saigon) [also known as Police]
won the 1967 championship in South Vietnam;
won 1 championship in Vietnam, in 1995;
won 2 cups in Vietnam, in 1998 and 2001;
lost the 2000 cup final
Cang Sai Gon (Saigon) [also known as Port Saigon]
won the 1977 championship in South Vietnam;
won 4 championships in Vietnam, in 1984, 1993/94, 1997, and 2001/02;
won 2 cups in Vietnam, in 1992 and 2000;
lost the Vietnam cup finals in 1994, 1996 and 1997
Quan Doi (Army)
won championships in South Vietnam (years unknown);
did not win honours in Vietnam
Quan Thue (Airport Customs)
won championships in South Vietnam (years unknown);
did not win honours in Vietnam
Yemen
North Yemenite clubs in the Yemenite football structure
Al-Ahli (Sanaa)
won 6 championships in Yemen, in
1991/92, 1993/94, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01 and 2007;
won at least 4 championships in North Yemen, in
1980/81, 1982/83, 1983/84 and 1987/88;
won 2 President Cups in Yemen, in 2001 and 2003/04;
won at least 4 cups in North Yemen, in
1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84
Al-Wahda (Sanaa)
won 4 championships in Yemen, in
1994/95, 1996/97, 1997/98 and 2002;
won at least 1 championship in North Yemen, in 1978/79:
won at least 1 cup in North Yemen, in 1977/78
Al-Sha'ab (Ibb)
won 2 championships in Yemen, in 2002/03 and 2003/04;
won 2 President Cups in Yemen, in 2001/02 and 2002/03;
it is unknown whether they won any honours in North Yemen
Al-Hilal (Hudaida)
won 1 championship in Yemen, in 2007/08;
won 2 President Cups in Yemen, in 2005 and 2008;
it is unknown whether they won any honours in North Yemen
Al-Saqr (Taizz)
won 1 championship in Yemen, in 2006;
it is unknown whether they won any honours in North Yemen
Al-Ahli (Hudaida)
won 1 President Cup in Yemen, in 1995/96;
it is unknown whether they won any honours in North Yemen
Al-Ittihad (Ibb)
won 1 President Cup in Yemen, in 1998;
it is unknown whether they won any honours in North Yemen
Al-Yarmouk (Sanaa)
won at least 2 championships in North Yemen, in 1988/89 and 1989/90;
did not win honours in Yemen
Al-Shorta (Sanaa)
won at least 1 championship in North Yemen, in 1985/86;
did not win honours in Yemen
Al-Sha'ab (Sanaa)
won at least 1 championship (1981/82) in North Yemen;
won at least 1 cup (1980/81) in North Yemen;
did not win honours in Yemen
Al-Zuhra (Sanaa)
won at least 1 championship (1979/80) in North Yemen;
won at least 1 cup (1978/79) in North Yemen;
did not win honours in Yemen
South Yemenite clubs in the Yemenite football structure
Al-Tilal (Aden)
won 2 championships in Yemen, in 1990/91 and 2005;
won 1 President Cup in Yemen, in 2007;
it is unknown whether they won any honours in South Yemen
Al-Sha'ab Hadramaut (Mukalla)
won 2 President Cups in Yemen, in 2000 and 2006;
it is unknown whether they won any honours in South Yemen
Al-Shorta (Aden)
won at least 1 championship (1983/84) in South Yemen;
did not win honours in Yemen
Al-Wahda (Aden)
won at least 1 cup (1983/84) in South Yemen;
did not win honours in Yemen
United Arab Republic
Egyptian clubs in the Syrian football structure
British Palestine
The remaining part of the former British Mandate of
Palestine, to which we will refer to as "British Palestine"
below, was partitioned in May 1948 into a Jewish State (hereafter
referred to as Israel), an Arab State and Jerusalem, an
enclave to be administered internationally, following a vote
in the General Assembly of the United Nations in November 1947.
A war between Arab countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and
Iraq) and Israel followed, which
resulted in Egypt taking the Gaza Strip, Jordan
the West Bank, and a mass exodus of Palestinians fleeing
from the area now known as Israel. Jordan annexed the
West Bank in 1950, but lost the territory to Israel in
the 1967 Six-Day War (after which Israel also occupied the Gaza
Strip).
In 1993, an autonomous "Palestinian Authority" was
established, which currently governs the Gaza Strip as
well as the part of the West Bank not colonised by Israeli
settlers; East Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel
rather than occupied, also does not belong to the area
governed by the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli clubs in the British Palestinian football structure
Since 1948, Maccabi Tel-Aviv have won 14 more Israeli league
championships and 16 cups; Hapoel Tel-Aviv won 7 more league
titles and 7 cups; Maccabi Petah-Tikva won the 1952 cup but
no further honours; and Beitar Tel-Aviv and Maccabi Hashmonai
Jerusalem won no more honours (but Beitar Tel-Aviv reached and
lost the 1977 cup final).
Championship
Maccabi Tel-Aviv (4 championships)
1936, 1937, 1941, 1947
Hapoel Tel-Aviv (4 championships)
1934, 1935, 1940, 1943
NB: only regional championships were played in 1938 and 1939;
the Tel-Aviv league was won by Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the fall
seasons of 1938 and 1939, and by Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the
spring season of 1939, but these titles were deemed unofficial
after research in 2002 (which also discovered that Maccabi
rather than Hapoel won the 1936 league).
Cup
Maccabi Tel-Aviv (6 cups)
1929, 1930, 1933, 1941, 1946, 1947
Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5 cups, of which 1 shared)
1928 (shared), 1934, 1937, 1938, 1939
Beitar Tel-Aviv (2 cups)
1940, 1942
Maccabi Petah-Tikva (1 cup)
1935
Maccabi Hashmonai Jerusalem (1 cup, shared)
1928 (shared; they lost the final 0-2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv who
had fielded an ineligible player)
Palestinian clubs in the British Palestinian football structure
Comoros
Mayotte clubs in the Comoros football structure
Netherlands Antilles
Aruban clubs in the Netherlands Antillian football structure
Note that Estrellas were
runners-up in Aruba (behind Dakota) when they won the
Kopa Antiano in 1970; other Aruban runners-up which
presumably entered the Antillian playoffs in the past are
(apart from Estrella, RCA, Dakota, Bubali and
San Luis Deportivo who all must have entered as champions
as well) SCA and Tropical.
None of these clubs (apart from Estrella, RCA and Dakota as
mentioned) won Aruban championships since 1986.
In February 2002 and March 2003 a friendly tournament, the
Copa Amistad, was contested on Aruba between the top
two teams from Aruba and Curaçao (Bonaire teams did not
enter); RCA won this tournament in 2002.
Kopa Antiano
1960: finalists: RCA (Oranjestad)
1964: winners: RCA (Oranjestad)
1965: winners: RCA (Oranjestad)
1970: winners: SV Estrella (Santa Cruz)
1982: finalists: Dakota (Oranjestad)
Bonaire clubs in the Netherlands Antillian football structure
Kopa Antiano
1972: finalists: Real Rincon (lost to Jong Colombia)
1985: finalists: Juventus (1-2, 2-3 vs Undeba)
1988: finalists: Juventus (lost to Jong Colombia)
1992: finalists: Juventus (lost to Sithoc)
1996: finalists: Real Rincon (1-1, 0-2 vs Undeba)
2000: finalists: Juventus (0-3 vs Jong Colombia)
2008: finalists: Juventus (0-1 vs Centro Barber)
NB: the 1996 Kopa Antiano playoff was played early 1997, the 2000
edition in April 2001.
Additional remarks on Africa
For instance, the current states of Burundi and Rwanda were 'united'
as a Belgian mandate area ('Ruanda-Urundi') between 1946 and 1962.
However, it is unknown whether any organised football was played
in the area prior to the independence of both countries in 1962.
During the civil war in former Zaire, in 2001, a team representing the
Rwandan Army entered a regional championship in the city of
Kongolo, in Eastern Katanga.
This team presumably was not identical to Rwandan top club and army
side APR.
Likewise, after the collapse of the Somalian state in 1991,
its northern region (Somaliland) became de facto independent
and now organises its own football competitions in the area;
previously clubs from the area (which was a British colony until
World War II, while the remainder of Somalia was Italian; the two
only united in 1960) presumably entered the Somalian football
structure but no data are available on that.
Between 1967 and 1970, part of Nigeria seceded as Biafra, a move
recognised by parts of the so-called 'international community'
(in particular, the states of Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania
and Zambia).
Whether any football was played in the region during those 3 years
is not known. Many of the strongest football teams in Nigeria are
from cities in this region, such as its capital Enugu (Enugu
Rangers, Nigerian champions on 5 occasions, also cup winners 5
times, 1977 winners of the African Cup Winners Cup, and losing
finalists in the 1975 African Champions Cup; this club was founded
in 1970, after the Biafran War, and were flag bearers of the
Biafran Freedom Fighters), Aba (Enyimba, 4 championships,
1 cup, and 2 wins in the African Champions League), Calabar
(Calabar Rovers, 1 cup win), Onitsha (Jasper United, without
domestic honours), Owerri (Iwuanyanwu Nationale, 5
championships, 1 cup, and losing finalists in the African
Champions Cup in 1988 against ES Sétif, then in the
second Algerian division),
Port Harcourt (Dolphin, formerly Eagle Cement, 2 championships,
3 cups, and losing finalists of the 2005 CAF Confederation Cup; now
defunct Port Harcourt FC, 3 cups; and Sharks, without domestic
honours) and Yenagoa (Bayelsa United, 1 championship).
The currently western provinces of Cameroon, including cities
such as Bamenda, Buéa, Kumba, Kumbo,
Limbe (founded as Victoria) and Tiko, were
part of British Cameroon between 1919 and 1961, which belonged to
Nigeria. Nothing is known about the participation of clubs
from the region in the Nigerian football structure. In Cameroon,
P&T Social Club
from Buéa lost the cup final in 1964; PWD Bamenda reached and
lost two cup finals (1967 and 1979) while Mount Cameroon from
Buéa won the 2002 edition (2-1 against Sable de Batié). Various
clubs from the region, including PWD Bamenda, Mount Cameroon,
Kumbo Strikers, Tiko United, and Victoria United from Limbe,
played one or more seasons in the Cameroon top division.
French Northern Africa
French Western Africa
North and South Rhodesia, Nyasaland
Stanley Pool
Moving Countries
Austria
Czech clubs in the Austrian football structure
City name correspondences:
German Czech
Prag Praha
Teplitz Teplice
Challenge Cup
1901: finalists: SK Slavia Praha (0-1 vs Wiener AC)
1901: semifinal: ČAFC Vinohrady (1-13 vs SK Slavia Praha)
1902: semifinal: SK Slavia Praha (3-4 aet vs Vienna Cricket FC)
1903: finalists: ČAFC Vinohrady (scratched vs Wiener AC)
Polish clubs in the Austrian football structure
City name correspondences:
German Polish Ukrainian
Krakau Kraków Krakiv
Galician Championship
1913 1.Cracovia Kraków
1913 2.Wisla Kraków
Ukrainian clubs in the Austrian football structure
The two Lwów clubs finished third and fourth in the Galician
championship of 1913. The first ever Bukovina championship in 1908
was won by a club from Czernowitz, which has been founded in 1903.
After World War I; Galicia, including its currently Ukrainian cities,
came to Poland, and the Bukovina, including
the capital Czernowitz which is now in the Ukraine,
to Romania.
City name correspondences:
German Ukrainian Polish Romanian
Czernowitz Chernivtsy Czerniowce Cernăuţi
Lemberg Lviv Lwów Liov
Galician Championship
1913 3.Pogoń Lwów
1913 4.Czarny Lwów
Bukovina Championship
1908 1.Deutscher Fussball Klub Czernowitz
Poland
Belarussian clubs in the Polish football structure
City name correspondences:
Polish Belarussian Russian
Brześć Brest Brest
Grodno Hrodna Grodno
Pińsk Pinsk Pinsk
Championship
No club from the region played in the Polish national championship.
Lithuanian clubs in the Polish football structure
City name correspondence:
Polish Lithuanian
Wilno Vilnius
Championship
Strzelec Wilno (1 top level season (played in 2 groups))
1922 4.Strzelec Wilno 6 1 0 5 9-33 2 [northern group]
Lauda Wilno (1 top level season (played in 2 groups))
1923 3.Lauda Wilno 6 1 1 4 4-26 3 [eastern group]
Pogoń Wilno (1 top level season (played in 3 groups))
1925 2.Pogoń Wilno 4 1 0 3 5-11 2 [eastern group]
1 pp. leg. Wilno (1 top level season (played in 3 groups))
1926 3.1 pp. leg. Wilno 4 0 0 4 2-27 0 [northern group]
Śmigły Wilno (1 top level season)
1938 10.Śmigły Wilno 18 5 1 12 29-50 11
Ukrainian clubs in the Polish football structure
City name correspondences:
Polish Ukranian German Russian
Drohobycz Drohobych Drogobych
Łuck Lutsk
Lwów Lviv Lemberg Lvov
Równe Rivne Rovno
Stanisławów Ivano-Frankivsk (since 1962)
Stryj Stryj Stryy
Championship
Pogoń Lwów (18 top level seasons (all held before World War II))
1921 4.Pogoń Lwów 8 3 0 5 19-13 6
1922 1.Pogoń Lwów 8 6 1 1 42-12 13 [group and playoff]
1923 1.Pogoń Lwów 9 8 0 1 48- 6 16 [group and playoff]
NB: includes third leg (playoff) of final against Wisła Kraków,
which Pogoń won 2-1 after extra time
1925 1.Pogoń Lwów 8 7 1 0 20- 4 15 [both group stages]
1926 1.Pogoń Lwów 8 6 2 0 37- 7 14 [both group stages]
1927 4.Pogoń Lwów 26 13 3 10 85-42 29
1928 6.Pogoń Lwów 28 14 3 11 61-55 31
1929 9.Pogoń Lwów 24 7 5 12 43-48 19
1930 7.Pogoń Lwów 22 4 11 7 34-36 19
1931 4.Pogoń Lwów 22 11 6 5 47-33 29
1932 2.Pogoń Lwów 22 13 2 7 32-24 28
1933 2.Pogoń Lwów 20 12 4 4 48-20 28 [both group stages]
1934 6.Pogoń Lwów 22 12 0 10 41-38 24
1935 2.Pogoń Lwów 20 11 3 6 55-31 25
1936 6.Pogoń Lwów 18 9 1 8 36-29 19
1937 6.Pogoń Lwów 18 6 3 7 19-23 15
1938 5.Pogoń Lwów 18 9 1 8 23-26 19
1939 3.Pogoń Lwów 13 7 2 4 27-22 16
NB: league abandoned due to start World War II
Czarni Lwów (7 top level seasons)
1927 9.Czarni Lwów 26 11 2 13 45-50 24
1928 8.Czarni Lwów 28 13 3 12 54-51 29
1929 11.Czarni Lwów 24 7 4 13 59-63 18
1930 9.Czarni Lwów 22 5 9 8 25-40 19
1931 10.Czarni Lwów 22 7 2 13 28-50 16
1932 11.Czarni Lwów 22 6 4 12 24-39 16
1933 11.Czarni Lwów 20 8 3 9 30-33 16 [both group stages]
Hasmonea Lwów (2 top level seasons)
1927 11.Hasmonea Lwów 26 8 7 11 55-78 24
1928 13.Hasmonea Lwów 28 6 3 19 43-71 15
Lechia Lwów (1 top level season)
1931 12.Lechia Lwów 22 5 1 16 23-66 11
Cup
1926: finalists: Sparta Lwów (1-2 vs Wisła Kraków)
quarterf:: Sokół Równe (0-4 vs Sparta Lwów)
Germany
Danish clubs in the German football structure
French clubs in the German football structure
Championship VSF (southern Germany)
1898: stage? Straßburger FV (lost to Freiburger FC)
stage? FC Mülhausen 93 (lost to Freiburger FC)
1899: winners: Straßburger FV (4-3 vs Karlsruher FV)
1900: winners: Straßburger FV (beat Karlsruher FV in final)
1902: quarterf.: Straßburger FV (2-7 vs Karlsruher FV)
1903: quarterf.: Straßburger FV (scratched vs Karlsruher FV)
prel. rd.: Straßburger FC Donar (0-7 vs Straßburger FV)
1904: quarterf.: Straßburger FV (lost to Karlsruher FV)
1905: group st.: FC Mülhausen/Elsaß 93 (3rd (of 4) in Südkreis (1 of 2))
1910: group st.: Straßburger FV (8th (of 9) in Südkreis (1 of 4))
1911: group st.: Straßburger FV (8th (of 10) in Südkreis (1 of 4))
1912: group st.: Straßburger FV (9th (of 11) in Südkreis (1 of 4))
1914: group st.: FV Metz (8th (of 8) in Westkreis (1 of 4))
Lithuanian clubs in the German football structure
Championship
Baltenverband - Endrunde (played by 5 clubs)
1927/28 5.SpVgg. Memel 4 0 1 3 4-10 1
1928/29 3.SpVgg. Memel 6 3 0 3 13-13 6
Sportbereich 1 Ostpreußen
1940/41 7.VfB Freya Memel 12 0 0 12 6-63 0
Polish clubs in the German football structure
Cities to have been represented, prior to 1933,
by one or more clubs in the final
regional round (Baltenverband or Südostdeutschland)
before the national playoffs include:
Allenstein/Olsztyn, Beuthen/Bytom,
Breslau/Wrocław, Danzig/Gdańsk, Elbing/Elbląg,
Glatz/Kłodzko, Gleiwitz/Gliwice, Graudenz/Grudziądz
(prior to 1920, when the city was incorporated into Poland),
Hindenburg/Zabrze, Hirschberg/Jelenia Góra, Jauer/Jawor,
Kattowitz/Katowice, Liegnitz/Legnica, Marienwerder/Kwidzyn,
Neufahrwasser/Nowy Port, Posen/Poznań (prior to 1920, when
the city was incorporated into Poland), Rastenburg/Kętrzyn
(Polish name Rastembork until 1950), Sagan/Żagań,
Schneidemühl/Piła, Stettin/Szczecin, Stolp/Słupsk,
Thorn/Toruń (prior to 1920, when the city was incorporated
into Poland), Waldenburg/Wałbrzych and Züllichau/Sulechów.
The following currently Polish cities were represented in the
Gauliga Ostpreußen:
Allenstein/Olsztyn,
Braunsberg/Braniewo,
Danzig/Gdańsk,
Elbing/Elbląg,
Goldap/Gołdap,
Gollnow/Goleniów,
Lauenthal/Letnica (now district of Gdańsk),
Lyck/Ełk,
Mlawa/Mława (renamed Mielau 1941),
Neufahrwasser/Nowy Port (now district of Gdańsk),
Ortelsburg/Szczytno,
Osterode/Ostróda
and Rastenburg/Kętrzyn (Polish name Rastembork until 1950).
The following currently Polish cities were represented in the
Gauliga Pommern:
Dievenow/Dziwnów,
Groß Bron/Borne Sulinowo (after HSV Hubertus Kolberg was relocated
and renamed HSV Groß Born in November 1943),
Kolberg/Kołobrzeg, Kamp-Köslin/Kepa Koszalin,
Köslin/Koszalin,
Lauenburg/Lębork, Neustettin/Szczecinek,
Pommerensdorf/Pomorzany (now district of Szczecin),
Schneidemühl/Piła,
Stettin/Szczecin,
Stolp/Słupsk,
Stolpmünde/Ustka
and Swinemünde/Świnoujście.
The following currently Polish cities were represented in the
Gauliga Schlesien:
Beuthen/Bytom,
Bismarckhütte/Hajduki Wielkie (now district of Chorzów),
Breslau/Wrocław,
Brieg/Brzeg,
Gleiwitz/Gliwice, Haynau/Chojnów, Hindenburg/Zabrze,
Kattowitz/Katowice,
Klausberg (before 1936 Mikultschütz)/Mikulczyce (now district of Zabrze),
Klettendorf/Klecina (now district of Wrocław),
Knurow/Knurów,
Königshütte/Chorzów,
Liegnitz/Legnica,
Lipine/Lipiny (now district of Świętochłowice),
Myslowitz/Mysłowice,
Oels/Oleśnica,
Ratibor/Racibórz,
Rybnik/Rybnik (only in the abandoned 1944/45 season),
Scharley/Szarlej (now district of Piekary Śląskie;
only in the abandoned 1944/45 season),
Schweidnitz/Świdnica,
Schwientochlowitz/Świętochłowice
and Tarnowitz/Tarnowskie Góry.
In 1943/44, Lower Silesian football was divided into
various smaller sections (Bezirksgruppen Niederschlesien),
which meant clubs from a number of towns reached the 'first
German football level' for the first time ever:
in the Görlitz group:
Hirschberg/Jelenia Góra (had been represented prior to 1933),
Kittlitztreben/Kotlicki Trebin and Lauban/Lubań;
in the Liegnitz group:
Glogau/Głogów,
Jauer/Jawor (had been represented prior to 1933),
Lüben/Lubin and Sprottau/Szprotawa;
and in the Bergland group:
Altwasser/Stary Zdrój (now district of Wałbrzych),
Dittersbach/Podgórze II (earlier Polish name Dietrzychów;
now district of Wałbrzych),
Freiburg/Świebodzice,
Glatz/Kłodzko,
Neurode/Nowa Ruda,
Striegau/Strzegom,
Waldenburg/Wałbrzych (had been represented prior to 1933)
and Weißstein/Biały Kamień (now district of Wałbrzych).
Deblin/Dęblin never had a 'first level' team
but its air force team reached the 1/8 finals of
the 1942 cup.
Championship - until 1933
1905: prel. rd.: SC Schlesien Breslau (scratched vs FC Viktoria Magdeburg)
1906: quarterf.: SC Schlesien Breslau (1-7 vs Hertha 92 Berlin)
1907: quarterf.: SC Schlesien Breslau (1-2 vs Viktoria 89 Berlin)
1908: quarterf.: VfR 1897 Breslau (1-3 vs FC Wacker Leipzig)
1910: quarterf.: VfR 1897 Breslau (1-2 vs FC Tasmania Rixdorf)
1912: quarterf.: BuEV Danzig (0-7 vs Viktoria 89 Berlin)
quarterf.: ATV Liegnitz (2-3 vs SpVgg. Leipzig-Lindenau)
1920: semifinal: FC Titania Stettin (0-3 vs 1.FC Nürnberg)
semifinal: Breslauer Sportfreunde (0-4 vs SpVgg. Fürth)
1921: quarterf.: Stettiner SC (1-2 vs Vorwärts 90 Berlin)
quarterf.: Breslauer Sportfreunde (1-2 vs Wacker Halle)
1922: quarterf.: FC Titania Stettin (0-5 vs Hamburger SV)
1923: quarterf.: Breslauer Sportfreunde (0-4 vs SpVgg. Fürth)
1924: quarterf.: Breslauer Sportfreunde (0-3 vs Hamburger SV)
1925: quarterf.: Breslauer SC 1908 (1-4 vs 1.FC Nürnberg)
1/8 final: FC Titania Stettin (2-4 vs Altona 1893)
1926: quarterf.: Breslauer SC 1908 (0-4 vs SpVgg. Fürth)
1/8 final: Stettiner SC (2-8 vs Holstein Kiel)
1927: 1/8 final: Breslauer FV 1906 (0-3 vs VfB Leipzig)
1/8 final: Breslauer Sportfreunde (1-3 vs SpVgg. Fürth)
1/8 final: Stettiner SC (1-9 vs Holstein Kiel)
1928: 1/8 final: Breslauer SC 1908 (2-3 vs VfB Königsberg)
1/8 final: Breslauer Sportfreunde (0-7 vs Hertha BSC)
1/8 final: SC Preußen Stettin (1-4 vs Holstein Kiel)
1929: semifinal: Breslauer SC 1908 (1-6 vs SpVgg. Fürth)
1/8 final: FC Titania Stettin (2-3 aet vs Tennis Borussia Berlin)
1/8 final: Preußen Hindenburg (1-8 vs Hertha BSC)
1930: 1/8 final: Breslauer Sportfreunde (0-7 vs 1.FC Nürnberg)
1/8 final: FC Titania Stettin (2-4 vs SpVgg. Sülz 1907)
1/8 final: Beuthener SuSV 1909 (2-3 vs Hertha BSC)
1931: 1/8 final: Beuthener SuSV 1909 (0-2 vs Hamburger SV)
1/8 final: VfB Liegnitz (1-6 vs Tennis Borussia Berlin)
1932: 1/8 final: Beuthener SuSV 1909 (1-5 vs Chemnitzer PSV)
1/8 final: Hindenburg Allenstein (0-6 vs Eintracht Frankfurt)
1/8 final: SV Viktoria Stolp (0-3 vs Tennis Borussia Berlin)
1933: quarterf.: Hindenburg Allenstein (2-12 vs Eintracht Frankfurt)
quarterf.: Beuthener SuSV 1909 (0-3 vs 1860 München)
1/8 final: Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz (0-9 vs Fortuna Düsseldorf)
Championship - since 1933
1934 Gp1 2.Beuthener SuSV 1909 6 3 1 2 12-13 7
Gp1 3.SV Viktoria Stolp 6 1 2 3 10-12 4
Gp1 4.Preußen Danzig 6 0 1 5 6-18 1
1935 Gp1 3.Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz 6 2 1 3 9-11 5
Gp2 4.Stettiner SC 6 0 1 5 5-29 1
1936 Gp2 1.Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz 6 5 0 1 21- 9 10
semifinal: Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz (1-3 vs Fortuna Düsseldorf;
Vorwärts-Rasensport lost
playoff for 3rd place vs
Schalke 04 (1-8))
Gp1 4.Hindenburg Allenstein 6 0 0 6 6-24 0
Gp2 4.SV Viktoria Stolp 6 1 0 5 4-20 2
1937 Gp1 3.Hindenburg Allenstein 6 1 2 3 10-21 4
Gp1 4.Beuthener SuSV 1909 6 1 1 4 12-20 3
Gp2 4.SV Viktoria Stolp 6 0 0 6 1-36 0
1938 Gp1 3.Stettiner SC 6 2 0 4 12-18 4
Gp3 4.Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz 6 1 1 4 9-20 3
1939 Gp1 3.Hindenburg Allenstein 6 2 1 3 10-12 5
G2a 3.SV Viktoria Stolp 4 1 0 3 1- 8 2
Gp4 2.Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz 6 4 0 2 12-11 8
1940 G1a 3.VfL Stettin 4 0 0 4 5-13 0
G1b 2.Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz 4 1 2 1 11-11 4
1941 G1a 1.Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz 4 2 1 1 9- 5 5
G1a 2.Luftwaffen SV Stettin 4 1 2 1 8- 9 4
G1a 3.Preußen Danzig 4 0 3 1 5- 8 3
playoff: Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz (0-3, 0-3 vs Dresdner SC)
1942: 1/8 final: Breslau 02 (1-2 aet vs Planitzer SC)
1/8 final: Germania Königshütte (0-1 vs Vienna)
qual. rd.: HuS Marienwerder (1-7 vs VfB Königsberg)
1943: quarterf.: SV Neufahrwasser (0-4 vs Dresdner SC)
1/8 final: LSV Reinicke Brieg (0-8 vs Vienna)
qual. rd.: Germania Königshütte (3-4 aet vs LSV Reinicke Brieg)
1944: semifinal: Heeres SV Groß Born (2-3 vs LSV Hamburg)
1/8 final: STC Hirschberg (0-5 vs Vienna)
qual. rd.: Germania Königshütte (2-9 vs Dresdner SC)
qual. rd.: LSV Danzig (0-0 aet, 1-7 vs Hertha BSC)
Cup (von-Tschammer-Pokal)
1935: 1/8 final: Masovia Lyck (1-2 vs Dresdner Sportfreunde)
1/16 fin.: Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz (2-3 vs Berolina Lichtenberg)
1/16 fin:: SC Vorwärts Breslau (2-4 vs Minerva 93 Berlin)
1936: 1/8 final: Hindenburg Allenstein (1-3 vs VfB Peine)
1/16 fin.: SV Viktoria Stolp (1-2 vs Hindenburg Allenstein)
1/16 fin.: Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz (2-2 aet, 0-3 vs VfB Leipzig)
1/16 fin.: Beuthener SuSV 1909 (1-4 vs Berliner SV 92)
1937: 1/16 fin.: Breslauer FV 06 (1-7 vs SpVgg. Fürth)
1938: quarterf.: Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz (2-4 vs 1.FC Nürnberg)
1/16 fin.: Hindenburg Allenstein (o/w vs Hertha BSC)
NB: in 1938, stages refer to the stages in 'Altreich', whose
quarterfinal winners joined the quarterfinal winners of the
'Ostmark' in the 'Großdeutschland' quarterfinal stage.
1939: 1/8 final: Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz (1-6 vs Rapid Wien)
1/16 fin.: SV Viktoria Stolp (1-3 vs Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin)
1/16 fin.: SV Klettendorf (1-6 vs Berliner SV 92)
1940: 1/8 final: BuEV Danzig (1-5 vs VfB Königsberg)
1/16 fin.: VfL Stettin (0-0 aet, 1-2 vs BuEV Danzig)
1941: quarterf.: LSV Kamp-Köslin (1-4 vs Dresdner SC)
1/8 final: Vorwärts-Ras. Gleiwitz (0-8 vs Austria Wien)
1/16 fin.: SV Viktoria Stolp (0-3 vs LSV Kamp-Köslin)
1/16 fin.: Breslauer SpVg. 02 (1-6 vs Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz)
1942: semifinal: TuS Lipine (0-6 vs 1860 München)
quarterf.: LSV Stettin (1-4 vs Werder Bremen)
1/8 final: LSV Adler Deblin (1-4 vs TuS Lipine)
1/16 fin.: Breslauer SpVg. 02 (0-4 vs TuS Lipine)
1/16 fin.: LSV Reinicke Brieg (1-7 vs LSV Adler Deblin)
1/16 fin.: SV Neufahrwasser (2-3 vs LSV Pütnitz)
1943: 1/8 final: Breslauer SpVg. 02 (5-6 vs Vienna)
1/16 fin.: SV Victoria Elbing (0-7 vs LSV Pütnitz)
1/16 fin.: TuS Lipine (3-5 vs Breslauer SpVg. 02)
Russian clubs in the German football structure
We split the period in question into two
parts - before and after 1933; not directly for political reasons,
but because the Nazi government of the German Reich
reorganised the football structure that year, introducing fifteen
Gauligen to replace the regional federations which each
had their own championship systems, and adding a group stage to
the national championship playoff (which had been entirely
knock-out based until then).
Cities to have been represented prior to 1933
by one or more clubs in the final
regional round (of the Baltenverband)
before the national playoffs include:
Königsberg/Kaliningrad, Gumbinnen/Gusev,
Insterburg/Černjahovsk and Tilsit/Sovetsk.
The following currently Russian cities were represented in the
Gauliga Ostpreußen between 1933 and 1935:
Königsberg/Kaliningrad, Gumbinnen/Gusev,
Insterburg/Černjahovsk and Tilsit/Sovetsk; after 1935, the
Gauliga Ostpreußen was split into four Bezirksklassen,
in which additionally the following currently Russian cities
were represented:
Heiligenbeil/Mamonovo, Labiau/Polessk, Neukuhren/Pionierski
and Ponarth (Baltijskij Rayon, district of Kaliningrad).
Championship - until 1933
1908: quarterf.: VfB Königsberg (0-7 vs Viktoria 89 Berlin)
1909: quarterf.: VfB Königsberg (1-12 vs Viktoria 89 Berlin)
1910: prel. rd.: Prussia-Samland Kgsbg. (1-5 vs FC Tasmania Rixdorf)
1911: quarterf.: SC Lituania Tilsit (scratched vs Viktoria 89 Berlin)
1913: quarterf.: Prussia-Samland Kgsbg. (1-6 vs Viktoria 89 Berlin)
1914: quarterf.: Prussia-Samland Kgsbg. (1-4 vs VfB Leipzig)
1923: semifinal: VfB Königsberg (2-3 vs Hamburger SV)
1924: quarterf.: VfB Königsberg (1-6 vs SpVgg. Leipzig-Lindenau)
1925: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (2-3 aet vs Hertha BSC)
1926: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (0-4 vs Hertha BSC)
1927: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (1-2 vs Hertha BSC)
1928: quarterf.: VfB Königsberg (0-4 vs Hamburger SV)
1929: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (1-2 vs Breslauer SC 1908)
1930: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (1-8 vs Dresdner SC)
1931: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (1-8 vs Dresdner SC)
1/8 final: Prussia-Samland Kgsbg. (2-3 vs Holstein Kiel)
1933: 1/8 final: Prussia-Samland Kgsbg. (1-7 vs Beuthener SuSV 1909)
Championship - since 1933
1935 Gp1 4.Yorck-Boyen Insterburg 6 0 1 5 8-35 1
1938 Gp1 4.Yorck-Boyen Insterburg 6 0 0 6 4-25 0
1940 G1a 2.VfB Königsberg 4 3 0 1 13-10 6
1941 G2a 3.VfB Königsberg 4 1 0 3 6-11 2
1942: quarterf.: VfB Königsberg (1-2 vs Blau-Weiß Berlin)
1944: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (3-10 vs Heeres SV Groß Born)
Cup (von-Tschammer-Pokal)
1935: 1/16 fin.: VfB Königsberg (0-1 vs Masovia Lyck)
1938: 1/16 fin.: Yorck-Boyen Insterburg (1-4 vs Brandenburger SC 05)
NB: in 1938, 1/16 finals refers to stage in 'Altreich', whose
quarterfinal winners joined the quarterfinal winners of the
'Ostmark' in the 'Großdeutschland' quarterfinal stage.
1940: quarterf.: VfB Königsberg (0-8 vs Dresdner SC)
1941: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (2-3 vs LSV Kamp-Köslin)
1/16 fin.: STV Königsberg (0-8 vs VfB Königsberg)
1942: 1/16 fin.: VfB Königsberg (1-4 vs LSV Stettin)
1943: 1/8 final: VfB Königsberg (0-5 vs Dresdner SC)
Finland
Russian clubs in the Finnish football structure
Viipuri was the second largest city of Finland in the
interbellum and its clubs played a significant role
in Finnish ice hockey (Reipas Viipuri won the first ever
Finnish ice hockey championship in 1928), bandy (Sudet Viipuri
won 14 pre-war Finnish championships in this sport, nearly half
the available titles) and
football (even after World War II, following their
relocation: Reipas Lahti and IKissat Tampere (later Ilves Tampere
and Tampere United), to name but the two most striking examples,
had their roots in Viipuri).
Sudet Viipuri won the 1940 championship (one season
after winning promotion from the second level; however, the
1940 championship was played as a cup competition open to
all clubs) and Reipas Viipuri reached 5 championship
finals before a nationwide league was established.
City name correspondences:
Finnish Russian Swedish
Sortavala Sortavala Sordavala
Viipuri Vyborg Viborg
NB: Sortavala earlier also known as Serdobol
Championship
Championships in knock-out style (until 1929)
1910: finalists: Reipas Viipuri (2-4 vs ÅIFK Turku)
1918: finalists: Reipas Viipuri (0-3 vs HJK Helsinki)
1919: finalists: Reipas Viipuri (0-1 vs HJK Helsinki)
1922: finalists: Reipas Viipuri (2-4 vs HPS Helsinki)
1927: finalists: Reipas Viipuri (0-6 vs HPS Helsinki)
Championships in league style (since 1930)
Sudet Viipuri (12 top level seasons)
1931 6.Sudet Viipuri 7 1 2 4 14-22 4
1932 5.Sudet Viipuri 14 6 1 7 32-36 13
1933 3.Sudet Viipuri 14 5 6 3 22-16 16
1934 4.Sudet Viipuri 14 6 3 5 25-25 15
1935 6.Sudet Viipuri 14 7 0 7 31-34 14
1936 4.Sudet Viipuri 14 6 3 5 26-21 15
1937 3.Sudet Viipuri 14 5 6 3 33-27 16
1938 8.Sudet Viipuri 14 4 0 10 26-30 8
1940: champions: Sudet Viipuri (2-0 vs TPS Turku)
1940/41 3.Sudet Viipuri 14 7 3 4 38-30 17
1942: finalists: Sudet Viipuri (4-6 vs HT Helsinki)
1943/44 3.Sudet Viipuri 7 4 1 2 12-11 9
NB: Sudet played in Helsinki since 1940 and were officially renamed
Sudet Helsinki for the 1945 season due to the annexation of
Viipuri by the Soviet Union; they moved to Kouvola in 1962 and
last played at the third Finnish level in 1990.
ViPS (Viipurin Palloseura) (2 top level seasons)
1930 4.ViPS Viipuri 7 3 1 3 20-16 7
1931 8.ViPS Viipuri 7 0 3 4 7-25 3
NB: played 2nd division 1935-1939; disappeared after the annexation
of Viipuri by the Soviet Union
Reipas Viipuri (1 top level season)
1939 8.Reipas Viipuri 11 2 0 9 18-51 4
NB: after the annexation of Viipuri by the Soviet Union, Reipas
moved to Lahti and played as Reipas Lahti 1945-1996, winning
3 Finnish league titles and 7 cups (five in consecutive seasons
from 1972 to 1976); they last played in the Finnish top level
in 1991; in 1997, having just been relegated from the second
to third level, they merged with town rivals and top level side
Kuusysi Lahti into FC Lahti; the third division side taking
Reipas' place were renamed Pallo-L Lahti.
Hungary
Austrian clubs in the Hungarian football structure
The currently best club from the Burgenland, SV Mattersburg, who
reached the Bundesliga in 2003, haven't been relegated
since and lost the Austrian cup final in both 2006 and 2007 against
Austria Wien, were founded 1922, just after the area had come to Austria.
The third club from the area to have played in the Austrian top
level, SC Neusiedl/See, in the Bundesliga for 2 seasons
(1982-1984), were founded 1919 under their German name; also
for them, no further data on their short time in the Hungarian
football structure are available. Other Burgenland clubs to
have been founded while the area was Hungarian include SC Parndorf
(currently at the Austrian second level; founded 1919) and
Güssinger SV (founded 1919 as Németújvári Sport-Club).
City name correspondences:
German Hungarian Croatian
Eisenstadt Kismarton Željezno
Güssing Németújvár
Mattersburg Nagymarton Materštof
Neusiedl am See Nezsider Niuzal
Parndorf Pándorfalu
Vidéki Bajnokság
No club from the region won a regional championship.
Romanian clubs in the Hungarian football structure before 1918
City name correspondences:
Hungarian Romanian
Arad Arad
Kolozsvár Cluj (Cluj-Napoca)
Nagyvárad Oradea
Temesvár Timişoara
Vidéki Bajnokság
eastern/southern groups
1907/08 Kolozsvári Ker. Ak. SE
1908/09 Kolozsvári Ker. Ak. SE
1909/10 Aradi AC
Kolozsvári Ker. Ak. SE
1910/11 Aradi AC
Kolozsvári TC
1911/12 Kolozsvári Ker. Ak. SE
1912/13 Kolozsvári TC
Nagyváradi AC
1913/14 Kolozsvári AC
Temesvári Kinizsi
1916/17 Temesvári Kinizsi
1917/18 Temesvári Kinizsi
overall provincial champions
No club from the region won the overall provincial championship.
Serbian clubs in the Hungarian football structure before 1918
City name correspondence:
Hungarian Serbian
Szabadka Subotica
Vidéki Bajnokság
southern group
1908/09 Bácska Szabadkai AC
1911/12 Bácska Szabadkai AC
1912/13 Bácska Szabadkai AC
overall provincial champions
No club from the region won the overall provincial championship.
Slovak clubs in the Hungarian football structure before 1918
City name correspondences:
Hungarian Slovak German
Eperjes Prešov Eperies (also Preschau since 1939)
Kassa Košice Kaschau
Vidéki Bajnokság
northern group
1907/08 Eperjesi TVE
1908/09 Kassai AC
1909/10 Kassai AC
1910/11 Kassai AC
1911/12 not known
1912/13 Kassai AC
overall provincial champions
1908/09 Kassai AC
1910/11 Kassai AC
national championship
1909: finalists: Kassai AC (0-11 vs Ferencváros)
1911: final not played
Ukrainian clubs in the Hungarian football structure before 1918
Vidéki Bajnokság
northeastern group
1913/14 Ungvári AC
overall provincial champions
No club from the region won the overall provincial championship
(the 1914 edition was not held due to World War I).
Armenia
Azerbaijani clubs in the Armenian football structure
The first was Yerazank, who played 3 seasons at the Armenian
top level, from 1993 to 1995 (spring season); their best
ever league finish was 8th, in 1993, and they reached the
quarterfinals of the cup in 1993/94.
They were followed by Karabakh, who first played 4 seasons
(from 1995/96 to 1998) as Karabakh Yerevan, with their best
league finish 7th in 1995/96 and two quarterfinal appearances
in the cup, 1995/96 and 1997/98; in 1999 they entered under
the name of Karabakh Stepanakert, but were expelled for
financial reasons after playing 15 (from 36) matches; both
the first and the second team of the club had been eliminated
in the round of 16 (1/8 finals) of the 1998/99 cup. They
were renamed Karabakh Yerevan again, won promotion in
2000 and finished 11th in 2001 (and reached the quarterfinals
of the cup that year) before changing name to
Lernayin Artsakh Yerevan, playing home matches in Kapan in 2002,
their 7th top level season, finishing 9th. They withdrew
before the start of the 2003 season, returned in 2005, their
8th top level season, from which they withdrew after playing
11 from 16 matches in the first stage. They won promotion
in 2006 but declined to enter the top flight in 2007.
Yugoslavia
Trieste clubs in the Yugoslav football structure
For three seasons, Poncijana Trst (or Amatori Ponziana Trieste
as they were known in Italy) competed in
the Yugoslav league structure. This club was a split-off, induced
by financial support from the Yugoslav authorities, of third
level Italian club Ponziana. For three seasons, SS Ponziana
competed in the Italian league structure, suffering relegation
to the fourth level, while Poncijana/Amatori Ponziana were in
the Yugoslav top division. In 1949, Tito tried to steer
Yugoslavia out of Soviet influence, seeking support from
western countries, and financial support for Poncijana was
reduced. The club then withdrew from the Yugoslav league,
merging with SS Ponziana into CS Ponziana, and starting at
the fourth level (Promozione Interregionale) in 1949/50.
The club still exists at Italian amateur level. See
Circolo Sportivo Ponziana 1912-1960.
Championship
Poncijana Trst (3 top level seasons)
1946/47 11.Poncijana Trst 26 9 2 15 35-50 20
1947/48 7.Poncijana Trst 18 6 4 8 21-45 16
1948/49 10.Poncijana Trst 18 3 4 11 12-45 10
Italy
Croatian clubs in the Italian football structure
Clubs from other currently Croatian cities, such as
Opatija (Abbazia), Poreč (Parenzo), Rovinj (Rovigno)
and Umag (Umago), presumably also played at lower levels in the
Italian league structure until the end of the second World War.
The same may hold for clubs from the Dalmatian city of Zadar (Zara),
which was Italian between 1918 and 1944 (though the remainder of
the Dalmatian coast belonged to Yugoslavia). The current NK Zadar
was founded in 1949 so has no Italian history.
City name correspondences:
Italian Croatian
Abbazia Opatija
Fiume Rijeka
Parenzo Poreč
Pola Pula
Rovigno Rovinj
Umago Umag
Championship
US Fiumana (1 top level season)
1928/29 14.US Fiumana 30 4 8 18 32-73 15 [-1] [girone B]
Cup (Coppa Italia)
1937: 1/16 fin.: US Fiumana (2-3 vs Bari)
1940: 1/16 fin.: US Fiumana (0-0, 2-4 vs Liguria)
1941: 1/8 final: US Fiumana (0-1 aet vs Spezia)
1942: 1/16 fin.: US Fiumana (0-4 vs Spezia)
Slovenian clubs in the Italian football structure
During the last (unofficial) war season, 1943/44, they even
played at the (improvised) first level, winning the
Zona Venezia Giulia; they then entered the Semifinali
Interzona, meeting Venezia and Triestina in the Girone B
(Veneto-Venezia Giulia), which was won by Venezia, who
eventually finished third (behind Vigili del Fuoco from La Spezia
and Torino) in the final playoff. In the 1937/38 Coppa Italia
the club reached the second preliminary round (two rounds before
the first round proper, the 1/16 finals, at which stage the top
level clubs entered). After the war, MNK Izola (Mladinski
Nogometni Klub - a precise translation of the old CCG name)
kept the colours of Ampelea. They are currently called
Avtoplus Korte Izola and play at the third level (3. SNL - zahod)
in Slovenia, after playing in the top flight for five seasons
(1991/92 to 1995/96; the first three seasons as Belvedur Izola)
and playing the first round of the 1992/93 UEFA Cup (losing 0-8
on aggregate to Benfica of Lisbon).
Another club, Capodistria, from the currently Slovenian city of
Koper, played at the fourth level (Seconda Divisione) of
the Italian league structure for at least two seasons (1928/29,
the last season before the introduction of the Serie A
al girone unico, and 1929/30, in which season they withdrew).
Presumably other clubs from towns now in Slovenia (such as
Dekani (Villa Decani) and Piran (Pirano)) played at the
fourth level (or below) as well, but further details are not
available.
A special case is the city of Gorizia (Gorica), which was split
into two parts in 1947; the currently Slovenian part is
known as Nova Gorica (most of it was built after the split,
in which Yugoslavia obtained the railway station and Italy the
old centre of the city) and home of one of the country's top clubs:
ND Gorica won 4 championships and 2 cups since 1991.
In Italy, the club Pro Gorizia played 3 seasons (between 1945 and
1948) in the Serie B (after having earlier played there in
1925/26 and 1928/29, before the reorganisation of Italian league
football).
City name correspondences:
Italian Slovenian German
Capodistria Koper
Gorizia Gorica Görz
Isola Izola
Pirano Piran
Villa Decani Dekani
Ampelea (Isola d'Istria) (1 (unofficial) top level season)
1943/44 1.Ampelea 14 10 2 2 35-17 22 [zona Venezia Giulia]
2.Ampelea 3 1 0 2 2- 4 2 [Veneto-Venezia Giulia]
Trieste clubs in the Italian football structure
Championship
Triestina (7 top level seasons)
1947/48 2.Triestina 40 17 15 8 51-42 49
NB: Triestina shared second place with Milan and Juventus
1948/49 8.Triestina 38 13 12 13 59-59 38
1949/50 8.Triestina 38 14 12 12 50-59 40
1950/51 15.Triestina 38 10 10 18 45-67 30
1951/52 17.Triestina 38 11 10 17 47-68 32
NB: Triestina won a playoff against relegation against Lucchese
and then a promotion/relegation playoff against Brescia
1952/53 15.Triestina 34 10 10 14 47-54 30
1953/54 12.Triestina 34 9 10 15 42-64 28
Cup (Coppa Italia)
No cup tournaments were organised in the relevant period (the
Coppa Italia was not held between 1943 and 1958).
Netherlands
German clubs in the Dutch football structure
None of these clubs ever played higher than the Vierde Klasse
KNVB, the fourth amateur level, which was the fourth level
overall in 1949/50 but had become the seventh level overall by
1962/63, due to the introduction of professional football in the
Netherlands in 1954. (Note that most seasons had 48 such
(amateur) fourth level groups, 8 in each of the six regional
divisions, all containing 12 clubs (occasionally groups with
11 or 13 clubs were formed); the three amateur levels above the
Vierde Klasse were the Eerste Klasse (6 groups),
Tweede Klasse (12 groups) and Derde Klasse (24
to 30 groups), with each group containing between 10 and 12 clubs.)
VfR Tüddern is the only club of the five never to have been
relegated from this level, and twice participated in promotion
playoffs to the Derde Klasse KNVB, the third amateur level.
Championship
VfR Tüddern (14 seasons at 4e klasse KNVB)
1949/50 1.VfR Tüddern 22 18 2 2 64-17 38 [Zuid II 4D]
3.VfR Tüddern 6 1 1 4 10-20 3 [promotion playoff]
1950/51 8.VfR Tüddern 20 8 1 11 47-58 17 [Zuid II 4D]
1951/52 5.VfR Tüddern 20 6 9 5 41-35 19 [-2] [Zuid II 4D]
1952/53 6.VfR Tüddern 21 8 4 9 48-49 20 [Zuid II 4D]
1953/54 7.VfR Tüddern 21 8 3 10 43-43 19 [Zuid II 4D]
1954/55 6.VfR Tüddern 22 10 2 10 44-49 22 [Zuid II 4D]
1955/56 9.VfR Tüddern 22 5 6 11 37-41 16 [Zuid II 4D]
1956/57 3.VfR Tüddern 22 11 9 2 49-23 31 [Zuid II 4D]
1957/58 3.VfR Tüddern 22 13 5 4 56-33 31 [Zuid II 4D]
1958/59 5.VfR Tüddern 24 10 2 12 53-64 22 [Zuid II 4D]
1959/60 5.VfR Tüddern 20 8 5 7 31-37 21 [Zuid II 4D]
1960/61 5.VfR Tüddern 22 10 4 8 49-38 24 [Zuid II 4E]
1961/62 7.VfR Tüddern 22 8 5 9 39-55 21 [Zuid II 4E]
1962/63 2.VfR Tüddern 22 12 4 6 41-27 28 [Zuid II 4E]
3.VfR Tüddern 4 0 1 3 5-16 1 [promotion playoff]
FC Wanderlust Süsterseel (11 seasons at 4e klasse KNVB)
1949/50 3.Wanderlust Süsterseel 22 8 8 6 51-45 24 [Zuid II 4D]
1950/51 7.Wanderlust Süsterseel 22 7 5 15 39-41 9 [Zuid II 4D]
1951/52 9.Wanderlust Süsterseel 20 5 4 11 35-57 14 [Zuid II 4D]
1952/53 10.Wanderlust Süsterseel 21 6 5 10 44-45 15 [-2] [Zuid II 4D]
1953/54 12.Wanderlust Süsterseel 22 6 4 12 36-52 16 [Zuid II 4D]
12.Wanderlust Süsterseel 1 0 0 1 2- 5 0 [relegation playoff]
1955/56 6.Wanderlust Süsterseel 22 7 8 7 43-45 22 [Zuid II 4D]
1956/57 12.Wanderlust Süsterseel 22 4 7 11 33-63 15 [Zuid II 4D]
12.Wanderlust Süsterseel 2 1 0 1 1- 4 2 [relegation playoff]
1959/60 2.Wanderlust Süsterseel 20 10 6 4 49-29 26 [Zuid II 4E]
1960/61 3.Wanderlust Süsterseel 22 12 4 6 55-41 28 [Zuid II 4D]
1961/62 6.Wanderlust Süsterseel 22 8 7 7 53-48 23 [Zuid II 4D]
1962/63 7.Wanderlust Süsterseel 22 8 5 9 53-55 21 [Zuid II 4D]
FC Fortuna Elten (2 seasons at 4e klasse KNVB)
1950/51 12.Elten 21 2 3 16 23-70 7 [Oost 4E]
1957/58 12.Fortuna Elten 22 3 2 17 31-83 8 [Oost 4F]
FC Viktoria Schalbruch (2 seasons at 4e klasse KNVB)
1949/50 11.Viktoria Schalbruch 22 6 3 13 41-73 15 [Zuid II 4D]
1950/51 12.Viktoria Schalbruch 21 3 3 15 27-71 9 [Zuid II 4D]
SV Hoengen (1 season at 4e klasse KNVB)
1949/50 12.Hoengen 22 3 3 16 28-69 9 [Zuid II 4D]
Roving Clubs
England
Northern Irish clubs in the English football structure
Cup
1887: 1/16 fin.: Cliftonville (0-11 vs Partick Thistle)
1890: 1/16 fin.: Distillery (2-10 vs Bolton Wanderers)
Scottish clubs in the English football structure
In 1991/92, Gretna became the eighth
Scottish club (and the first in over a century) to enter the
first round proper, a feat they repeated in 1993/94. Between
1992 and 2002, this club from just across the English border
played in the
First Division
(second level) of the Northern Premier League (overall the seventh
level in the English league pyramid). In the first three of these
seasons, from 1992/93 to 1994/95, one of their competitors was
Welsh side Caernarfon Town (who left for the League of Wales in
1995), making this division the temporary home for clubs from
three different UEFA members, probably unique. Gretna
reached their best ever finish in that league in their first
season, and only came close to emulating it in their last;
in 2002 they moved to play 'at home', in
the Scottish league structure,
where they reached the top flight in 2007 after
three successive promotions. They only lasted one season
(playing home matches in Motherwell)
before folding in 2008, mainly due to the illness and
subsequent death of sponsor Brooks Mileson. A new club,
Gretna FC, was formed, currently playing in the
East of Scotland Football League Division One and hosting
matches in Annan (near Gretna).
Northern Premier League First Division
Gretna (best 2 finishes in 10 seasons)
1992/93 6.Gretna 40 17 12 11 64-47 63
2001/02 7.Gretna 42 19 7 16 66-66 63 [-1]
NB: Gretna had one point deducted
Cup
1872: semifinal: Queen's Park (0-0, scratched vs Wanderers)
1873: semifinal: Queen's Park (scratched vs Oxford University)
1877: 1/5 final: Queen's Park (scratched vs Oxford University)
1884: finalists: Queen's Park (1-2 vs Blackburn Rovers)
1885: finalists: Queen's Park (0-2 vs Blackburn Rovers)
1887: semifinal: Rangers (1-3 vs Aston Villa)
1/8 final: Partick Thistle (0-1 vs Old Westminster)
Sheriff of London Shield
1899: winners: Queen's Park (shared: 0-0 vs Aston Villa)
Welsh clubs in the English football structure
In all, two Welsh clubs played at the English top level,
Cardiff City and Swansea City (formerly Swansea Town), who are both
still playing professionally in England, as were Wrexham until the end
of the 2007/08 season, when they were relegated to the fifth level
Conference; they had been playing in the English league without interruption
since 1921, playing in the (old) Second Division for four seasons
(1978/79 until 1981/82), with their best finish there 15th in 1978/79.
Three other Welsh clubs were active in the English league
in the past: Aberdare Athletic (6 seasons 1921-1927, all in
Third Division (South)), Merthyr Town (10 seasons 1920-1930,
all in Third Division (South)) and Newport County (60 seasons
1920-1931 and 1932-88, one of those (1946/47) in the (old) Second
Division). Several others applied for election to the league
but failed to secure the necessary votes:
Abertillery Town (1921),
Bangor City (1947, 1972),
Barry/Barry Town (1921, 1947),
Bridgend Town (1948),
Ebbw Vale (1927),
Llanelly (1922-1923, 1929-1933, 1947, 1950-1951),
Lovell's Athletic, who were invited to joint the Western
section of the Football League during the Second World
War, playing there from 1942/43 to 1944/45 (1948),
Merthyr Tydfil (1947-1952, 1954),
Mid-Rhondda, based in Tonypandy (1925),
Pontypridd (1921-1923) and
Rhyl (1929 and 1932).
Championship
Cardiff City (15 top level seasons)
1921/22 4.Cardiff City 42 19 10 13 61-53 48
1922/23 9.Cardiff City 42 18 7 17 73-59 43
1923/24 2.Cardiff City 42 22 13 7 61-34 57
NB: Huddersfield Town won the league with 57 points and a
goal record of 60-33, making a goal average of 1.818;
Cardiff had 1.794; under current tie-breaking rules,
Cardiff would have claimed the title.
1924/25 11.Cardiff City 42 16 11 15 56-51 43
1925/26 16.Cardiff City 42 16 7 19 61-76 39
1926/27 14.Cardiff City 42 16 9 17 55-65 41
1927/28 6.Cardiff City 42 17 10 15 70-80 44
1928/29 22.Cardiff City 42 8 13 21 43-59 29
1952/53 12.Cardiff City 42 14 12 16 54-46 40
1953/54 10.Cardiff City 42 18 8 16 51-71 44
1954/55 20.Cardiff City 42 13 11 18 62-76 37
1955/56 17.Cardiff City 42 15 9 18 55-69 39
1956/57 21.Cardiff City 42 10 9 23 53-88 29
1960/61 15.Cardiff City 42 13 11 18 60-85 37
1961/62 21.Cardiff City 42 9 14 19 50-81 32
Swansea City (2 top level seasons)
1981/82 6.Swansea City 42 21 6 15 58-51 69
1982/83 21.Swansea City 42 10 11 21 51-69 41
FA Cup
1878: 1/6 final: Druids (0-8 vs Royal Engineers)
1883: quarterf.: Druids (1-4 vs Blackburn Olympic)
1885: 1/8 final: Druids (0-1 vs West Bromwich Albion)
1887: 1/8 final: Chirk AAA (1-2 vs Darwen)
1888: 1/8 final: Chirk AAA (1-1, 0-1 vs Derby Junction)
1920: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (1-2 vs Bristol City)
1921: semifinal: Cardiff City (0-0, 1-3 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers)
1922: quarterf.: Cardiff City (1-1, 1-2 vs Tottenham Hotspur)
1/8 final: Swansea Town (0-4 vs Millwall Athletic)
1923: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (2-3 vs Tottenham Hotspur)
1924: quarterf.: Cardiff City (0-0, 1-2 vs Manchester City)
1925: finalists: Cardiff City (0-1 vs Sheffield United)
1926: semifinal: Swansea Town (0-3 vs Bolton Wanderers)
1927: winners: Cardiff City (1-0 vs Arsenal)
quarterf.: Swansea Town (1-3 vs Reading)
1928: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (1-2 vs Nottingham Forest)
1934: 1/8 final: Swansea Town (0-1 vs Portsmouth)
1937: 1/8 final: Swansea Town (0-3 vs Sunderland)
1949: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (1-2 vs Derby County)
1/8 final: Newport County (2-3 vs Portsmouth)
1950: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (1-3 vs Leeds United)
1952: 1/8 final: Swansea Town (0-1 vs Newcastle United)
1955: 1/8 final: Swansea Town (2-2, 0-1 vs Sunderland)
1958: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (0-0, 1-2 vs Blackburn Rovers)
1961: 1/8 final: Swansea Town (0-4 vs Burnley)
1964: semifinal: Swansea Town (1-2 vs Preston North End)
1965: 1/8 final: Swansea Town (0-0, 0-2 vs Peterborough United)
1972: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (0-2 vs Leeds United)
1974: quarterf.: Wrexham (0-1 vs Burnley)
1977: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (1-2 vs Everton)
1978: quarterf.: Wrexham (2-3 vs Arsenal)
1980: 1/8 final: Swansea City (0-2 vs West Ham United)
1/8 final: Wrexham (2-5 vs Everton)
1981: 1/8 final: Wrexham (1-3 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers)
1994: 1/8 final: Cardiff City (0-1 vs Luton Town)
1997: quarterf.: Wrexham (0-1 vs Chesterfield)
2004: 1/8 final: Swansea City (1-2 vs Tranmere Rovers)
2008: finalists: Cardiff City (0-1 vs Portsmouth)
2009: 1/8 final: Swansea City (1-1, 1-2 vs Fulham)
FA Charity Shield
1927: winners: Cardiff City (2-1 vs Corinthians)
League Cup
1961: quarterf.: Wrexham (0-3 vs Aston Villa)
1966: semifinal: Cardiff City (2-5, 1-5 vs West Ham United)
1978: quarterf.: Wrexham (1-3 vs Liverpool)
Football League Trophy
NB: also known as Associate Members Cup; for 3rd and 4th level clubs
1994: winners: Swansea City (1-1 aet, 3-1 pen vs Huddersfield Town)
2005: winners: Wrexham (2-0 aet vs Southend United)
2006: winners: Swansea City (2-1 vs Carlisle United)
Wales
English clubs in the Welsh football structure
Moreover, one English club, Oswestry Town, entered the League of
Wales for a few seasons around the turn of the millennium.
They merged into TNS Llansantffraid (from the Welsh
village of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain) before the 2003/04
season. In early 2006, sponsors Total Network Solutions
were taken over by British Telecom, and after failed
attempts to find a new name sponsor, the club changed name
to The New Saints. Starting from the 2007/08 season,
The New Saints play home matches at Park Hall in Oswestry,
so once again League of Wales matches are occasionally played
in England. Conversely, the playing field of Chester City's
current stadium (Deva Stadium, opened in 1992), located some
way from the city's centre, is actually in Wales, although the
front gate and access road (as well as the offices in the stadium)
are in England.
Championship
Oswestry Town (3 top level seasons)
2000/01 15.Oswestry Town 34 10 6 18 40-74 36
2001/02 16.Oswestry Town 34 8 6 20 39-84 30
2002/03 16.Oswestry Town 34 6 10 18 36-67 28
Cup
1882: finalists: Northwich Victoria (0-5 vs Druids)
1884: winners: Oswestry White Stars (0-0, 1-0 vs Druids)
1885: finalists: Oswestry White Stars (1-1, 1-3 aet vs Druids)
1887: finalists: Davenham (1-2 vs Chirk AAA)
1889: finalists: Northwich Victoria (1-2 vs Bangor)
1892: winners: Shrewsbury Town (5-2 vs Wrexham)
1901: winners: Oswestry United (1-0 vs Druids)
1902: winners: Wellington Town (1-0 vs Wrexham)
1906: winners: Wellington Town (3-2 vs Whitchurch)
finalists: Whitchurch (2-3 vs Wellington Town)
1907: winners: Oswestry United (2-0 vs Whitchurch)
finalists: Whitchurch (0-2 vs Oswestry United)
1908: winners: Chester (3-1 vs Connah's Quay & Shotton)
1909: finalists: Chester (0-1 vs Wrexham)
1910: finalists: Chester (1-2 vs Wrexham)
1931: finalists: Shrewsbury Town (0-7 vs Wrexham)
1933: winners: Chester (2-0 vs Wrexham)
1934: winners: Bristol City (1-1, 3-0 vs Tranmere Rovers)
finalists: Tranmere Rovers (1-1, 0-3 vs Bristol City)
1935: winners: Tranmere Rovers (1-0 vs Chester)
finalists: Chester (0-1 vs Tranmere Rovers)
1936: winners: Crewe Alexandra (2-0 vs Chester)
finalists: Chester (0-2 vs Crewe Alexandra)
1937: winners: Crewe Alexandra (1-1, 3-1 vs Rhyl)
1938: winners: Shrewsbury Town (2-2, 2-1 vs Swansea Town)
1939: winners: South Liverpool (2-1 vs Cardiff City)
1940: winners: Wellington Town (4-0 vs Swansea Town)
1947: winners: Chester (0-0, 5-1 vs Merthyr Tydfil)
1948: finalists: Shrewsbury Town (0-3 vs Lovell's Athletic)
1953: finalists: Chester (1-2 vs Rhyl)
1954: finalists: Chester (0-2 vs Fflint Town United)
1955: finalists: Chester (1-1, 3-4 vs Barry Town)
1958: finalists: Chester (1-1, 1-2 vs Wrexham)
1966: finalists: Chester (0-3, 1-0, 1-2 vs Swansea Town)
1968: finalists: Hereford United (0-2, 1-4 vs Cardiff City)
1970: finalists: Chester (0-1, 0-4 vs Cardiff City)
1974: finalists: Stourbridge (0-1, 0-1 vs Cardiff City)
1976: finalists: Hereford United (3-3, 2-3 vs Cardiff City)
1977: winners: Shrewsbury Town (1-2, 3-0 vs Cardiff City)
1979: winners: Shrewsbury Town (1-1, 1-0 vs Wrexham)
1980: finalists: Shrewsbury Town (1-2, 0-3 vs Newport County)
1981: finalists: Hereford United (0-1, 1-1 vs Swansea City)
1984: winners: Shrewsbury Town (2-1, 0-0 vs Wrexham)
1985: winners: Shrewsbury Town (3-1, 2-0 vs Bangor City)
1986: finalists: Kidderminster Harriers (1-1 aet, 1-2 vs Wrexham)
1989: finalists: Kidderminster Harriers (0-5 vs Swansea City)
1990: winners: Hereford United (2-1 vs Wrexham)
1992: finalists: Hednesford Town (0-1 vs Cardiff City)
Scotland
English clubs in the Scottish football structure
Cup
1952: 1/8 final: Berwick Rangers (0-1 vs Dundee)
1954: quarterf.: Berwick Rangers (0-4 vs Rangers)
1967: 1/8 final: Berwick Rangers (0-1 vs Hibernian)
1979: 1/8 final: Berwick Rangers (0-3 vs Celtic)
1980: quarterf.: Berwick Rangers (0-0, 0-1 vs Hibernian)
2000: 1/8 final: Berwick Rangers (0-0, 0-3 vs Falkirk)
(All) Ireland
English clubs in the Irish football structure
Championship
North Staffordshire Regiment (3 top level seasons)
1896/97 5.North Staffordshire R. 10 2 4 4 17-23 8
1897/98 6.North Staffordshire R. 10 2 1 7 13-31 5
1898/99 6.North Staffordshire R. 10 0 0 10 11-32 0
Lancashire Fusiliers (1 top level season)
1891/92 3.Lancashire Fusiliers 15 11 1 3 56-29 23
Cup
1897: finalists: Sherwood Foresters (1-3 vs Cliftonville)
Scottish clubs in the Irish football structure
Championship
Royal Scots Regiment (1 top level season)
1899/00 5.Royal Scots Regiment 7 2 1 4 10-17 5
King's Own Scottish Borderers (1 top level season)
1903/04 8.King's Own Scottish B. 14 1 1 12 11-61 3
Cup
1890: winners: Gordon Highlanders (2-2, 3-1 vs Cliftonville)
1892: finalists: Black Watch Regiment (0-7 vs Linfield)
1900: semifinal: King's Own Scottish B. (scratched vs Cliftonville)
(Republic of) Ireland
Northern Irish clubs in the Irish football structure
Championship
Derry City (22 top level seasons)
1987/88 8.Derry City 33 13 5 15 59-44 31
1988/89 1.Derry City 33 24 5 4 70-21 53
1989/90 2.Derry City 33 20 9 4 72-18 49
1990/91 7.Derry City 33 13 9 11 51-28 35
1991/92 2.Derry City 33 17 10 6 49-21 44
1992/93 5.Derry City 32 11 15 6 26-23 37
1993/94 4.Derry City 32 12 10 10 37-35 46
1994/95 2.Derry City 33 16 10 7 45-30 58
1995/96 6.Derry City 33 11 13 9 50-38 46
1996/97 1.Derry City 33 19 10 4 58-27 67
1997/98 9.Derry City 33 10 10 13 30-31 40
1998/99 5.Derry City 33 12 9 12 34-32 45
1999/00 7.Derry City 33 12 10 11 32-38 46
2000/01 6.Derry City 33 12 9 12 31-28 45
2001/02 5.Derry City 33 14 9 10 42-30 51
2002/03 8.Derry City 27 8 7 12 31-37 31
2003 9.Derry City 36 7 15 14 33-51 36
2004 7.Derry City 36 11 11 14 23-32 44
2005 2.Derry City 33 22 6 5 56-25 72
2006 2.Derry City 30 18 8 4 46-20 62
2007 7.Derry City 33 8 13 12 30-31 37
2008 3.Derry City 33 16 10 7 46-25 58
Cup
1923: winners: Alton United (1-0 vs Shelbourne)
1988: finalists: Derry City (0-1 vs Dundalk)
1989: winners: Derry City (0-0, 1-0 vs Cork City)
1994: finalists: Derry City (0-1 vs Sligo Rovers)
1995: winners: Derry City (2-1 vs Shelbourne)
1997: finalists: Derry City (0-2 vs Shelbourne)
2003: winners: Derry City (1-0 vs Shamrock Rovers) [1st final 2003]
2006: winners: Derry City (4-3 aet vs Saint Patrick's Athletic)
2008: finalists: Derry City (2-2 aet, 2-4 pen vs Bohemians)
League Cup
1989: winners: Derry City (4-0 vs Dundalk)
1990: finalists: Derry City (1-1, 1-4 pen vs Dundalk)
1991: winners: Derry City (2-0 vs Limerick City)
1992: winners: Derry City (1-0 vs Bohemians)
1994: winners: Derry City (3-1 (agg) vs Shelbourne)
2000: winners: Derry City (3-1, 2-1 vs Athlone Town)
2002: finalists: Derry City (1-2, 1-0 aet, 2-3 pen vs Limerick)
2005: winners: Derry City (2-1 vs UCD)
2006: winners: Derry City (0-0 aet, 3-0 pen vs Shelbourne)
2007: winners: Derry City (1-0 aet vs Bohemians)
2008: winners: Derry City (6-1 vs Wexford Youths)
Greece
Cypriot clubs in the Greek football structure
Championship
1967/68 17.Olympiakos (Lefkosia) 34 6 11 17 39-76 57
1968/69 18.AEL (Lemessos) 34 2 1 31 20-125 39
1969/70 17.Olympiakos (Lefkosia) 34 3 3 28 20-101 43
1970/71 18.EPA (Larnaka) 34 3 4 27 23-76 43 [-1]
1971/72 18.Olympiakos (Lefkosia) 34 2 7 25 14-63 44 [-1]
1972/73 18.Omonoia (Lefkosia) 34 1 7 26 22-71 42 [-1]
1973/74 13.APOEL (Lefkosia) 34 11 5 18 39-48 27
playoff 13-15
13.APOEL (Lefkosia) 2 1 0 1 6- 3 2
NB: APOEL = Athlitikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias
Turkey
Greek clubs in the Turkish football structure
Austria
Hungarian clubs in the Austrian football structure
Challenge Cup
1902: finalists: Budapesti TC (1-2 vs Vienna Cricket FC)
1902: semifinal: Ferencvárosi TC (1-5 vs Budapesti TC)
1903: semifinal: Ferencvárosi TC (1-5 vs Wiener AC)
1905: finalists: Magyar AC (1-2 vs Wiener SV)
1909: winners: Ferencvárosi TC (2-1 vs Wiener Sport-Club)
1911: finalists: Ferencvárosi TC (0-3 vs Wiener Sport-Club)
Liechtenstein clubs in the Austrian football structure
Switzerland
German clubs in the Swiss football structure
2. Liga (Region Zürich)
FC Büsingen (1 season)
1973/74 11.FC Büsingen 20 3 4 13 23-55 10
Liechtenstein clubs in the Swiss football structure
Nationalliga A/Super League
FC Vaduz (1 season)
2008/09 10.FC Vaduz 36 5 7 24 28-85 22
Nationalliga B/Challenge League
FC Vaduz (7 seasons)
2001/02 11.FC Vaduz 22 5 7 10 34-43 22 [fall]
2.FC Vaduz 14 8 3 3 28-18 38 [relegation playoff]
NB: included halved points of fall season as bonus
2002/03 1.FC Vaduz 22 12 5 5 47-32 41 [fall]
4.FC Vaduz 12 3 4 5 17-23 13 [promotion playoff]
2003/04 2.FC Vaduz 32 16 9 7 56-34 79 [22]
NB: clubs obtained bonus points for winning head-to-heads;
FC Vaduz lost promotion/relegation playoff 0-2, 2-1 vs
Neuchâtel Xamax
2004/05 2.FC Vaduz 34 21 6 7 58-28 69
NB: FC Vaduz lost promotion/relegation playoff 0-1, 1-1 vs
FC Schaffhausen
2005/06 8.FC Vaduz 34 13 7 14 57-54 46
2006/07 9.FC Vaduz 34 12 10 12 57-52 46
2007/08 1.FC Vaduz 34 21 7 6 75-40 70
Cup
Liechtenstein clubs do not enter the Swiss Cup.
Spain
Andorran clubs in the Spanish football structure
In 1988/89,
FC Andorra finished second in their group behind Palamós, missing
out on promotion to the second level by 5 points. Below we list
their best (top-10) third level finishes. They were
relegated from the Segunda División B in 1997/98 and have
meanwhile dropped to the seventh level Primera Territorial Catalana
(the third Catalan level, below the four national levels).
Note that Club Andorra (formerly Endesa Andorra), who also played
several seasons in the Segunda División B, are from a village
(also called Andorra) in the province of Teruel, and not from the
principality.
Segunda División B
FC Andorra
Top-10 finishes (in 17 seasons)
1981/82 8.FC Andorra 38 16 9 13 56-44 41 [Grupo II]
1982/83 8.FC Andorra 38 15 9 14 43-47 39 [Grupo I]
1983/84 10.FC Andorra 38 14 13 11 52-44 41 [Grupo I]
1984/85 9.FC Andorra 38 13 12 13 51-57 38 [Grupo I]
1988/89 2.FC Andorra 38 23 8 7 58-28 54 [Grupo II]
1989/90 4.FC Andorra 38 18 10 10 57-43 46 [Grupo II]
1990/91 7.FC Andorra 38 15 10 13 41-34 40 [Grupo II]
1991/92 6.FC Andorra 38 14 16 8 64-46 44 [Grupo II]
1992/93 10.FC Andorra 38 13 11 14 47-41 37 [Grupo II]
1994/95 7.FC Andorra 38 13 16 9 32-31 42 [Grupo III]
1995/96 9.FC Andorra 38 14 9 15 38-44 51 [Grupo III]
1996/97 6.FC Andorra 38 15 13 10 42-33 58 [Grupo III]
Cup
1981: 1/18 fin.: FC Andorra (0-0, 0-4 vs Castellón)
NB: after this round (tercera eliminatoria), 19 clubs were left:
Real Madrid who had received a bye to the 1/8 finals as holders
and the 18 winners of the tercera eliminatoria, of which 6
(including Castellón) had to contest the cuarta eliminatoria
for 3 places in the 1/8 finals.
Italy
San Marino clubs in the Italian football structure
San Marino Calcio first entered the fourth level Serie C2 in
1988/89. They only lasted one season then before returning to
the Interregionale, and even went down to the sixth
level Eccellenza for two seasons (1992/93 and 1996/97)
before returning to the professional ranks in 2000. In 2004/05
they finished 4th in the Girone B of the Serie C2
(as in the previous season), and in spite of being defeated in the
promotion playoffs by Cisco Lodigiani gained entry to the
Serie C1, thanks to administrative decisions. In their
first ever season at the Italian third level, they finished
16th from 18 in the Girone A but survived the chop in
the playoffs, beating Pro Sesto 1-0 over 2 legs. They were not
so lucky in their second season, losing 1-3 on aggregate to Martina
and dropping down to the fourth level for 2007/08.
Serie C1
2005/06 16.San Marino Calcio 34 8 11 15 32-38 35 [Girone A]
2006/07 17.San Marino Calcio 34 8 8 18 37-43 32 [Girone B]
Swiss clubs in the Italian football structure
Northern Italy
1914/15 5.Chiasso 10 2 3 5 24-37 7 [group D]
Lombardy
1919/20 4.Chiasso 10 3 2 5 15-18 8 [group B]
1920/21 3.Chiasso 6 1 1 4 6-14 3 [group D]
1921/22 2.Chiasso 6 2 4 0 11- 5 8 [group A]
France
AS Monaco
Championship
AS Monaco (50 top level seasons (up to and including 2006/07))
top-3 finishes
1955/56 3.AS Monaco 34 17 7 10 63-45 41
1960/61 1.AS Monaco 38 26 5 7 77-42 57
1962/63 1.AS Monaco 38 20 10 8 77-44 50
1963/64 2.AS Monaco 34 17 7 10 62-45 41
1977/78 1.AS Monaco 38 22 9 7 79-46 53
1981/82 1.AS Monaco 38 24 7 7 70-29 55
1983/84 2.AS Monaco 38 22 10 6 58-29 54
1984/85 3.AS Monaco 38 18 12 8 65-28 48
1987/88 1.AS Monaco 38 20 12 6 53-29 52
1988/89 3.AS Monaco 38 18 14 6 62-38 68
1989/90 3.AS Monaco 38 15 16 7 38-24 46
1990/91 2.AS Monaco 38 20 11 7 51-30 51
1991/92 2.AS Monaco 38 22 8 8 55-33 52
1992/93 3.AS Monaco 38 21 9 8 56-29 51
1995/96 3.AS Monaco 38 19 11 8 64-39 68
1996/97 1.AS Monaco 38 23 10 5 69-30 79
1997/98 3.AS Monaco 34 18 5 11 51-33 59
1999/00 1.AS Monaco 34 20 5 9 69-38 65
2002/03 2.AS Monaco 38 19 10 9 66-33 67
2003/04 3.AS Monaco 38 21 12 5 59-30 75
2004/05 3.AS Monaco 38 15 18 5 52-35 63
Cup
1960: winners: AS Monaco (4-2 aet vs AS Saint-Etienne)
1963: winners: AS Monaco (0-0 aet, 2-0 vs Olympique Lyonnais)
1974: finalists: AS Monaco (1-2 vs AS Saint-Etienne)
1980: winners: AS Monaco (3-1 vs US Orléans)
1984: finalists: AS Monaco (0-2 aet vs FC Metz)
1985: winners: AS Monaco (1-0 vs Paris Saint-Germain FC)
1989: finalists: AS Monaco (3-4 vs Olympique Marseille)
1991: winners: AS Monaco (1-0 vs Olympique Marseille)
1992: finalists: AS Monaco (final cancelled)
NB: the 1992 cup final was not played due to the tragedy in the other
semifinal between Bastia and Olympique Marseille, when a temporary
stand at Bastia's stadium collapsed prior to the match, killing 19
people; Monaco entered the 1992/93 Cup Winners' Cup but the 1991/92
Coupe de France was not awarded.
League Cup
Coupe Charles Drago
1961: winners: AS Monaco (2-1 vs RC Strasbourg)
Coupe de la Ligue
1984: finalists: AS Monaco (1-3 vs Stade Lavallois)
2001: finalists: AS Monaco (1-2 aet vs Olympique Lyonnais)
2003: winners: AS Monaco (4-1 vs FC Sochaux-Montbéliard)
1.FC Saarbrücken
Germany
SV Kleinwalsertal
DFC Prag
After the DFB joined FIFA, its 'territory' was restricted to that
of contemporary Germany, and the Prague club did not enter the
German football structure again. They were successful in their
own country though: they had already won a championship in Bohemia
(Mistrovství Čech) in fall 1896 and collected another
(Mistrovtsví ČSF) in 1917. They entered the first ever
'national' league (Asociační Liga) of Czechoslovakia, in
spring 1925, but withdrew after finishing that first season in
fourth position, and won Czechoslovak amateur championships in
1930/31 and 1932/33 before joining the newly introduced
Státní Liga in 1934/35, finishing 7th (from 12) in that
first season and 11th (from 14) in the next. Other 'German'
clubs active in that league in its early years included Teplitzer
FK and DSV Saaz (from the town called Žatec in Czech).
Championship
1903: finalists: DFC Prag (2-7 vs VfB Leipzig)
Poland
Hungarian clubs in the Polish football structure
Lithuania
Russian clubs in the Lithuanian football structure
LFF Lyga 2
Volna Kaliningrad
2000 1.Volna Kaliningrad 22 20 2 0 101- 9 62 [western zone]
Latvia
Estonian clubs in the Latvian football structure
Livonijas Liga
FC Võru
2004 5.FC Võru 14 7 1 6 30-33 28
2005 3.FC Võru 3 2 0 1 5- 3 6 [group 1]
Tammeka Tartu
2004 4.Tammeka Tartu 14 7 1 6 43-32 28
2005 4.Tammeka Tartu 3 1 0 2 3-13 3 [group 2]
Warrior Valga
2004 6.Warrior Valga 14 5 0 9 26-45 24
2005 3.Warrior Valga 3 1 0 2 6- 6 3 [group 2]
Lootus Pilva
2004 8.Lootus Pilva 14 2 1 11 19-49 19
2005 4.Lootus Pilva 3 0 0 3 1- 7 0 [group 1]
Finland
Russian clubs in the Finnish football structure
City name correspondences:
Finnish Russian
Sortavala Sortavala
Värtsilä Vyartsilya
NB: Sortavala earlier also known as Serdobol
Sweden
Finnish clubs in the Swedish football structure
Another Åland club, IFK Mariehamn from the main town on the
islands, reached the top Finnish level (Veikkausliiga) for
the first time ever in 2005 and finished their second season (2006)
there in fifth place. They also reached the 1/8 finals of the
Finnish Cup 2006. The club's women football team play in Sweden,
in the Upplandsseriens Division 4 (at the 5th level).
City name correspondence:
Swedish Finnish
Mariehamn Maarianhamina
Thailand
Laotian clubs in the Thai football structure
Malaysia
Brunei clubs in the Malaysian football structure
Championship
Brunei FA
Top-5 finishes
1996 5.Brunei FA 28 12 8 8 38-32 44
1997 5.Brunei FA 28 13 6 9 52-39 45
1998 3.Brunei FA 22 9 8 5 44-33 35
DPMM FC (2 top level seasons)
2006/07 3.DPMM FC 24 13 5 6 46-29 44
2007/08 10.DPMM FC 24 4 10 10 27-34 22
Cup
1983: quarterf.: Brunei FA (1-1, 1-4 vs Selangor FA)
1997: semifinal: Brunei FA (2-3, 1-3 vs Pahang FA)
1999: winners: Brunei FA (2-1 vs Sarawak FA)
Singapore
Australian clubs in the Singapore football structure
Championship
1994 1.Perth Kangaroos 18 17 1 0 75- 8 35
2.Darwin Cubs 18 13 2 3 56-14 28
'Foreign' clubs in the Singapore football structure
Championship
Albirex Niigata (S) (6 top level seasons)
2004 5.Albirex Niigata (S) 27 12 8 7 50-42 44
2005 5.Albirex Niigata (S) 27 12 8 7 50-33 44
2006 6.Albirex Niigata (S) 30 12 9 9 52-44 45
2007 8.Albirex Niigata (S) 33 9 8 16 45-49 35
2008 7.Albirex Niigata (S) 33 10 11 12 44-55 41
2009 running
Sinchi (3 top level seasons)
2003 7.Sinchi 33 11 11 11 46-48 50 [+6]
NB: drawn matches were decided by penalties, with the
shootout winners obtaining an extra point
2004 9.Sinchi TV 27 4 5 18 36-62 17
2005 9.Sinchi 27 7 3 17 27-56 21 [-3]
NB: Sinchi had 3 points deducted for gross misconduct
(Korean) Super Reds (3 top level seasons)
2007 12.Super Reds 33 3 9 21 24-80 18
2008 2.Super Reds 33 24 3 6 68-32 75
2009 running
NB: club was renamed Super Reds during 2007 season
Sporting Afrique (1 top level season)
2006 9.Sporting Afrique 30 5 9 16 36-58 24
Liaoning Guangyuan (1 top level season)
2007 10.Liaoning Guangyuan 33 8 5 20 33-63 29
Dalian Shide Siwu (1 top level season)
2008 10.Dalian Shide Siwu 33 5 7 21 26-75 22
Cup
2003: quarterf.: Sinchi (0-1 vs Woodlands Wellington)
2004: semifinal: Sinchi Golden-Throat (1-5, 4-5 vs Home United)
1/8 final: Albirex Niigata (S) (3-4 vs Balestier Khalsa)
2005: quarterf.: Sinchi (1-3, 0-1 vs Home United
quarterf.: Albirex Niigata (S) (3-5, 2-1 vs Woodlands Wellington)
2006: quarterf.: Albirex Niigata (S) (2-2, 1-2 vs Chonburi Province)
1/8 final: Sporting Afrique (2-3 aet vs Young Lions)
2007: 1/8 final: Albirex Niigata (S) (0-1 vs Bangkok University)
1/8 final: Liaoning Guangyuan (3-4 vs Woodlands Wellington)
1/8 final: Korean Super Reds (0-2 vs Home United)
2008: quarterf.: Super Reds (1-1, 0-3 vs Singapore Armed Forces)
1/8 final: Albirex Niigata (S) (1-4 vs Bangkok University)
1/8 final: Dalian Shide Siwu (1-5 vs Home United)
2009: quarterf.: Albirex Niigata (S) (to play Tampines Rovers)
1/8 final: Super Reds (2-4 vs TTM Samut Sakhon)
League Cup
2007: quarterf.: Albirex Niigata (S) (1-2 vs Gombak United)
quarterf.: Korean Super Reds (0-2 vs Woodlands Wellington)
2008: final: Super Reds (1-2 vs Gombak United)
quarterf.: Albirex Niigata (S) (0-3, 1-3 vs Super Reds)
1/8 final: Dalian Shide Siwu (0-1 vs Albirex Niigata (S))
2009: quarterf.: Super Reds (0-0 aet, 3-4 pen vs Woodlands Wellington)
1/8 final: Albirex Niigata (S) (eliminated in group stage)
Brunei clubs in the Singapore football structure
Championship
DPMM FC (1 top level season)
2009 running
Cup
2004: 1/8 final: DPMM FC (1-2 vs Woodlands Wellington)
2005: 1/8 final: DPMM FC (0-2 vs Sinchi)
2006: 1/8 final: DPMM FC (0-1 vs Tampines Rovers)
2007: 1/8 final: DPMM FC (0-1 vs Tampines Rovers)
2008: 1/8 final: DPMM FC (0-1 vs Woodlands Wellington)
2009: quarterf.: DPMM FC (to play TTM Samut Sakhon)
League Cup
2009: winners: DPMM FC (1-1 aet, 4-3 pen vs Singapore Armed Forces)
Cambodian clubs in the Singapore football structure
Cup
2006: 1/8 final: Khmer Empire Phnom Penh (1-8 vs Singapore Armed Forces)
2007: 1/8 final: Khmer Empire Phnom Penh (3-4 vs Sengkang Punggol)
2008: 1/8 final: Khmer Empire Phnom Penh (0-2 vs Young Lions)
2009: quarterf.: Phnom Penh Crown (to play Bangkok Glass)
Indonesian teams in the Singapore football structure
Cup
2005: quarterf.: Indonesia U-23 (0-3, 1-6 vs Singapore Armed Forces)
2009: 1/8 final: Pelita Jaya (0-1 vs DPMM FC)
Malaysian teams in the Singapore football structure
Cup
2006: 1/8 final: Malaysia U-23 (3-5 vs Balestier Khalsa)
Thai clubs in the Singapore football structure
Cup
2005: 1/8 final: Prov. Electr. Authority (0-1 vs Albirex Niigata (S))
2006: finalists: Chonburi Province (2-3 aet vs Tampines Rovers)
1/8 final: Prov. Electr. Authority (0-1 vs Woodlands Wellington)
2007: semifinal: Bangkok University (0-2, 1-0 vs Tampines Rovers)
1/8 final: Chonburi Province (2-3 vs Balestier Khalsa)
2008: quarterf.: Bangkok University (0-1, 0-0 v Young Lions)
quarterf.: Tobacco Monopoly (1-1, 0-0, 2-4 pen vs Woodlands Wellington)
2009: quarterf.: Bangkok Glass (to play Phnom Penh Crown)
quarterf.: TTM Samut Sakhon (to play DPMM FC)
Australia
New Zealand clubs in the Australian football structure
Championship
Football Kings (Auckland) (5 top level seasons)
1999/00 8.Football Kingz 34 15 5 14 57-59 50
2000/01 8.Football Kingz 30 12 7 11 52-52 43
2001/02 13.Football Kingz 24 3 5 16 28-58 14
2002/03 11.Football Kingz 24 6 6 12 26-45 24
2003/04 13.Football Kingz 24 4 3 17 25-51 15
New Zealand Knights (Auckland) (2 top level seasons)
2005/06 8.New Zealand Knights 21 1 3 17 15-47 6
2006/07 8.New Zealand Knights 21 5 4 12 13-39 19
Wellington Phoenix (Wellington) (2 top level seasons)
2007/08 8.Wellington Phoenix 21 5 5 11 25-37 20
2008/09 6.Wellington Phoenix 21 7 5 9 23-31 26
Hongkong
Chinese clubs in the Hongkong football structure
Championship
Xiangxue Pharmaceutical (4 top level seasons)
2001/02 6.Xiangxue Pharmaceutical 12 2 4 6 18-36 10
2002/03 5.Xiangxue Pharmaceutical 14 5 2 7 14-19 17
2003/04 5.Xiangxue Pharmaceutical 18 6 4 8 28-26 22
2004/05 9.Xiangxue Pharmaceutical 16 3 2 11 12-39 11
Lanwa FC/Lanwa Redbull/Sheffield United (4 top level seasons)
2005/06 5.Lanwa FC 14 4 5 5 14-20 17
2006/07 5.Lanwa Redbull 18 8 2 8 37-26 26
2007/08 8.Lanwa Redbull 18 4 8 6 25-31 20
2008/09 running
Xiangxue Eisiti (1 top level season)
2008/09 running
China
Hongkong teams in the Chinese football structure
In the fifth National Games in Nanjing, 1933, Hongkong registered
a record 23-0 win in their first round match against Jiangxi.
The 1948 National Games featured a final round between the four
winning quarterfinalists; Shanghai withdrew from this while the
other three teams drew their matches against each other (Hongkong
had actually beaten Army 2-0 but the match was later declared a 0-0
draw).
National Games
1910: winners: South China (1-0 vs East China)
1933: semifinal: Hongkong (0-1 vs Shanghai)
1935: winners: Hongkong (3-1 vs Guangdong)
1948: winners: Hongkong (shared with Army and Police)
Inter-Sectional Championship
1926: winners: South China (8-3, 5-1 vs East China)
1927: winners: South China (4-1 vs East China)
1929: runner-up: South China (in league format)
1930: winners: South China (4-4, 2-2, 4-1 vs East China)
Malaysian teams in the Chinese football structure
National Games
1935: runner-up: Malaysia Chinese (1-0 vs Guangdong)
1948: quarterf.: Malaysia Chinese (1-3 vs Army)
Philippine teams in the Chinese football structure
National Games
1948: 1st round: Philippines Chinese (3-6 vs Zhejiang)
Thailand teams in the Chinese football structure
National Games
1948: quarterf.: Thailand Chinese (1-2 vs Police)
Philippines
Singapore clubs in the Philippine football structure
Championship
1935: winners: Malayan Command
Maldives
Its inclusion here is debatable, as strictly speaking it is just an
'international club tournament'; however, as Maldives club managed
to win the majority of the tournaments (just; 9 from 16), it is
included nevertheless.
A comparable (though arguably more convincing) case is that
of the Kashif & Shanghai Knockout Tournament
in Guyana.
Indian clubs in the Maldive football structure
POMIS Cup
1990: winners: Indian Youth Team (4-1 vs Victory SC)
1991: finalists: Dempo SC (0-0, 4-5 pen vs York FC)
1992: finalists: Dempo SC (1-2 vs Valencia SC)
1993: winners: Kerala SC (2-1 vs Victory SC)
2003: winners: Mahindra United (3-1 vs Valencia SC)
Sri Lankan clubs in the Maldive football structure
POMIS Cup
1987: winners: Renown SC (0-0, 3-1 pen vs Saunders SC)
1987: finalists: Saunders SC (0-0, 1-3 pen vs Renown SC)
1988: winners: York FC (5-4 vs New Radiant SC)
1991: winners: York FC (0-0, 5-4 pen vs Dempo SC)
1994: finalists: Colombo FC (1-1, 5-7 pen vs New Radiant SC)
Thai clubs in the Maldive football structure
POMIS Cup
1998: winners: Thailand U-19 (2-1 vs New Radiant)
Chile
Palestinian teams in the Chilean football structure
Tercera División A
2003 Ap 5.Selección de Palestina 8 0 0 8 3-39 0 [northern group C]
2003 Cl 15.Selección de Palestina 28 2 3 23 14-74 9 [northern group]
Surinam
French Guyanese teams in the Surinamese football structure
Guyana
As the tournament is based on invitation and apparently not directly
connected to the national FA (though there was talk of the FA intending
to turn it into the premier club championship of the country), its
inclusion here is debatable, as strictly speaking it is just an
'international club tournament'; however, given the domination (both
numerically - most seasons only had participants from Guyana itself -
and in terms of final appearances) of domestic clubs, it is included
nevertheless.
A comparable (though arguably even less convincing) case is that
of the President of Maldives Invitational Soccer Cup
(POMIS Cup).
Antigua clubs in the Guyanese football structure
Kashif & Shanghai Cup
2004: 1/8 final: Guydadli (0-4 vs Topp XX)
Barbados clubs in the Guyanese football structure
Kashif & Shanghai Cup
2004: 1/8 final: Tudor Bridge (0-3 vs Eagles United)
Saint Lucian clubs in the Guyanese football structure
Kashif & Shanghai Cup
2004: finalists: Dennery (1-4 vs Conquerors)
2006: 1/8 final: Mabouya Valley (0-4 vs Western Tigers)
Trinidadian clubs in the Guyanese football structure
Kashif & Shanghai Cup
1998: winners: Doc's Khelwalaas (2-1 vs Victoria Kings)
2000: 1/8 final: San Juan Jabloteh (1-2 vs Melanie)
2006: winners: Joe Public (1-0 vs Topp XX)
USA clubs in the Guyanese football structure
Kashif & Shanghai Cup
1996: semifinal: Guynamics (New York) (lost vs Pele; won 3rd place match vs Milerock)
2000: quarterf.: Guynamics (New York) (1-3 vs Georgetown FC)
2006: quarterf.: Team Guyana USA (0-1 vs Western Tigers)
USA
Bermudan clubs in the US football structure
USL Second Division
2007 11.Bermuda Hogges 20 3 3 14 16-45 12
2008 9.Bermuda Hogges 20 5 2 13 21-50 17
Canadian clubs in the US football structure
Championship (NASL)
1973: semifinal: Toronto Metros (0-3 vs Philadelphia Atoms)
1975: quarterf.: Toronto Metros-Croatia (0-1 vs Tampa Bay Rowdies)
1976: winners: Toronto Metros-Croatia (3-0 vs Minnesota Kicks)
1977: quarterf.: Toronto Metros-Croatia (0-0 (shootout loss), 0-1 vs Rochester Lancers)
1978: quarterf.: Vancouver Whitecaps (0-1, 1-2 vs Portland Timbers)
1979: winners: Vancouver Whitecaps (2-1 vs Tampa Bay Rowdies)
1980: quarterf.: Edmonton Drillers (0-1, 3-2, 0-3 vs Fort Lauderdale Strikers)
1981: quarterf.: Montreal Manic (3-2, 2-4, 2-4 vs Chicago Sting)
1982: quarterf.: Montreal Manic (3-2, 0-1 aet, 1-4 vs Fort Lauderdale Strikers)
quarterf.: Toronto Blizzard (2-4, 2-1, 2-4 vs Seattle Sounders)
quarterf.: Vancouver Whitecaps (1-5, 1-0, 1-2 vs San Diego Sockers)
1983: finalists: Toronto Blizzard (0-2 vs Tulsa Roughnecks)
semifinal: Montreal Manic (1-1 (shootout loss), 1-0, 0-3 vs Tulsa Roughnecks)
quarterf.: Vancouver Whitecaps (1-0, 3-4, 0-1 vs Toronto Blizzard)
1984: finalists: Toronto Blizzard (0-2 vs Chicago Sting)
semifinal: Vancouver Whitecaps (1-0 aet, 1-3, 3-4 vs Chicago Sting)
Championship (MLS)
Toronto FC (2 top level seasons)
2007 13.Toronto FC 30 6 7 17 25-49 25
2008 12.Toronto FC 30 9 8 13 34-43 35
Puerto Rican clubs in the US football structure
USL First Division
2004 9.Puerto Rico Islanders 28 5 6 17 22-48 21
2005 7.Puerto Rico Islanders 28 10 8 10 46-43 38
2006 6.Puerto Rico Islanders 28 10 8 10 38-36 38
2007 6.Puerto Rico Islanders 28 10 10 8 35-34 40
2008 1.Puerto Rico Islanders 30 15 9 6 43-23 54
finalists: Puerto Rico Islanders (1-2 vs Vancouver Whitecaps)
Overview (Europe)
Champions in Two European Countries
Ararat Yerevan Soviet Union, Armenia
Baník Ostrava Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic
Concordia Zagreb Yugoslavia, Croatia
Crvena zvezda Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro
CSKA Moskva Soviet Union, Russia
+ Derry City Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland
Dinamo Tbilisi Soviet Union, Georgia
Dinamo Zagreb Yugoslavia, Croatia
Dynamo Kyiv Soviet Union, Ukraine
Dynamo Minsk Soviet Union, Belarus
Građanski Zagreb - Yugoslavia, Croatia
Hajduk Split Yugoslavia, Croatia
+ IC Oradea - Hungary, Romania
Internacional Bratislava Czechoslovakia, Slovakia
Partizan Beograd Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro
+ Rapid Wien Austria, Germany
FK Sarajevo Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Slavia Praha Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic
Slovan Bratislava Czechoslovakia, Slovakia
Sparta Praha Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic
Spartak Moskva Soviet Union, Russia
Vardar Skopje Yugoslavia (*), Macedonia
Željezničar Sarajevo Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina
+ clubs preceded by + were champions of two currently existing
UEFA members; among these 3, Derry City and Rapid Wien also
won domestic cups in both countries involved, while IC Oradea
won the cup in Romania (as Progresul Oradea) but not in Hungary;
Derry City also collected League Cups in the Republic of Ireland,
but not in Northern Ireland (where the tournament was introduced
after their withdrawal; they did win 1 Gold Cup and 2 City Cups).
- clubs followed by - have ceased to exist.
* Vardar had their 1986/87 championship in Yugoslavia revoked
after legal procedures but entered the UEFA Champions' Cup.
Countrywise
FORMER CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Baník Ostrava
Czechoslovakia Champions 1975/76, 1979/80, 1980/81
Czech Republic Champions 2003/04
Internacional Bratislava
Czechoslovakia Champions 1958/59
Slovakia Champions 1999/00, 2000/01
Slavia Praha
Czechoslovakia Champions 1925, 1928/29, 1929/30, 1930/31, 1932/33,
1933/34, 1934/35, 1936/37, 1946/47
Czech/Moravia Champions 1939/40, 1940/41, 1941/42, 1942/43
Czech Republic Champions 1995/96, 2007/08, 2008/09
Slovan Bratislava (includes ŠK Bratislava)
Czechoslovakia Champions 1949, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1969/70,
1973/74, 1974/75, 1991/92
Slovakia Champions 1939/40, 1940/41, 1941/42, 1943/44, 1993/94,
1994/95, 1995/96, 1998/99, 2008/09
Sparta Praha
Czechoslovakia Champions 1925/26, 1927, 1931/32, 1935/36, 1937/38,
1945/46, 1947/48, 1952, 1954, 1964/65,
1966/67, 1983/84, 1984/85, 1986/87, 1987/88,
1988/89, 1989/90, 1990/91, 1992/93
Czech/Moravia Champions 1938/39, 1943/44
Czech Republic Champions 1993/94, 1994/95, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99,
1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2006/07
GERMANY/AUSTRIA
Rapid Wien
Austria Champions 1911/12, 1912/13, 1915/16, 1916/17, 1918/19,
1919/20, 1920/21, 1922/23, 1928/29, 1929/30,
1934/35, 1937/38, 1939/40, 1940/41, 1945/46,
1947/48, 1950/51, 1951/52, 1953/54, 1955/56,
1956/57, 1959/60, 1963/64, 1966/67, 1967/68,
1981/82, 1982/83, 1986/87, 1987/88, 1995/96,
2004/05, 2007/08
Germany Champions 1940/41
IRELAND
Derry City
Northern Ireland Champions 1964/65
Rep. of Ireland Champions 1988/89, 1996/97
HUNGARY/ROMANIA
IC Oradea
Hungary Champions 1943/44 as Nagyváradi AC
Romania Champions 1948/49 as IC Oradea
FORMER SOVIET UNION
Ararat Erevan
Soviet Union Champions 1973
Armenia Champions 1993
CSKA Moskva
Soviet Union Champions 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951,
1970, 1991
Russia Champions 2003, 2005, 2006
Dinamo Tbilisi
Soviet Union Champions 1964, 1978
Georgia Champions 1990, 1991, 1991/92, 1992/93, 1993/94,
1994/95, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99,
2002/03, 2004/05, 2007/08
Dynamo Kyiv
Soviet Union Champions 1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971,
1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981,
1985, 1986, 1990
Ukraine Champions 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1996/97,
1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2002/03,
2003/04, 2006/07, 2008/09
Dynamo Minsk
Soviet Union Champions 1982
Belarus Champions 1992, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 1995,
1997, 2004
Spartak Moskva
Soviet Union Champions 1936 (fall), 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953,
1956. 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979,
1987, 1989
Russia Champions 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997,
1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
Zenit Sankt Peterburg
Soviet Union Champions 1984
Russia Champions 2007
FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Concordia Zagreb
Yugoslavia Champions 1930, 1932
Croatia Champions 1941/42
Crvena zvezda Beograd
Yugoslavia Champions 1951, 1952/53, 1955/56, 1956/57, 1958/59,
1959/60, 1963/64, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70,
1972/73, 1976/77, 1979/80, 1980/81, 1983/84,
1987/88, 1989/90, 1990/91, 1991/92
Serbia-Montenegro Champions 1994/95, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2003/04
Serbia Champions 2006/07
NB: Serbia-Montenegro championships include all titles won since 1992/93,
when the former Yugoslav championship became that of Serbia and
Montenegro though not yet in name; the 1991/92 league still included
clubs from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia so is included under
Yugoslavia
Dinamo Zagreb
Yugoslavia Champions 1947/48, 1953/54, 1957/58, 1981/82
Croatia Champions 1992/93, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99,
1999/00, 2002/03, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08,
2008/09
Građanski Zagreb
Yugoslavia Champions 1923, 1926, 1928, 1936/37, 1939/40
Croatia Champions 1942/43
Hajduk Split
Yugoslavia Champions 1927, 1929, 1950, 1952, 1954/55,
1970/71, 1973/74, 1974/75, 1978/79
Croatia Champions 1992, 1993/94, 1994/95, 2000/01, 2003/04,
2004/05
NB: does not include 'titles' in 1941 and 1946 in Croatia, as the
regional league there was meant as qualifying tournament for the
Yugoslav championship (which was cancelled)
Partizan Beograd
Yugoslavia Champions 1946/47, 1948/49, 1960/61, 1961/62, 1962/63,
1964/65, 1975/76, 1977/78, 1982/83, 1985/86,
1986/87
Serbia-Montenegro Champions 1992/93, 1993/94, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1998/99,
2001/02, 2002/03, 2004/05
Serbia Champions 2007/08, 2008/09
NB: Serbia-Montenegro championships include all titles won since 1992/93,
when the former Yugoslav championship became that of Serbia and
Montenegro though not yet in name; the 1991/92 league still included
clubs from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia so is included under
Yugoslavia
FK Sarajevo
Yugoslavia Champions 1966/67, 1984/85
Bosnia-Herzegovina Champions 1998/99, 2006/07
NB: the 1998/99 championship did not involve clubs from the 'Republik
Srpska' who did not enter the Bosnian league until 2002; the Bosnian
champions were excluded from the UEFA Champions League (qualifying)
until the 2000/01 season
Željezničar Sarajevo
Yugoslavia Champions 1971/72
Bosnia-Herzegovina Champions 1997/98, 2000/01, 2001/02
NB: the three championships between 1997 and 2002 did not involve clubs
from the 'Republik Srpska' who did not enter the Bosnian league until
2002; the Bosnian champions were excluded from the UEFA Champions
League (qualifying) until the 2000/01 season
Vardar Skopje
Yugoslavia Champions 1986/87 (revoked)
Macedonia Champions 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 2001/02, 2002/03
NB: 10 clubs had started the 1986/87 season with a deduction of 6 points,
among them Partizan and Crvena zvezda, because of the events in the
previous season. Vardar Skopje, who had not been deducted 6 points,
won the title, and participated in the 1987/88 Champions Cup, but the
points deduction was later revoked after more legal proceedings, and
the title was awarded to Partizan, who headed the table without the
deduction.
About this document
Note the Disclaimers in the Introduction.
Source for data on Dutch New Guinea: http://www.londoh.com/voetbal_in_NNG_05.htm and pages linked from there.
Thanks to Sean DeLoughry (seandeloughry@yahoo.co.uk), who provided the last section (on champions in two European countries); many thanks to Alexey Khaydukov and Hans Schöggl for numerous suggestions on additional cases, and thanks to Dinant Abbink, Dale Arnett, Yaniv Bleicher, Fer van Dijk, Sheridan Elliott, László Földesi, Lluís Gabarró, Erik Garin, Mark Gleeson, Kent Hedlundh, Oshebeng Koonyaditse, Hassanin Mubarak, Henry Ong Heong Yong, Heikki Pietarinen, Jan Schoenmakers, Elisha Shohat and Andre Zlotkowski for various additions, corrections and suggestions.
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
(karel@rsssf.com)
Last updated: 26 Jun 2009
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2007/09
All rights reserved.